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Rokoko unveils Smartgloves

23 Sep '20

3 min read

Pic: Rokoko

Aaward-winning motion capture creator Rokoko has unveiled Smartgloves, a hand and finger tracking solution that is able to capture every nuance of a hand, in an affordable way. The new Smartgloves are durable enough for fight scenes, and are also precise for individual fingers, which makes them capture the full spectrum of an actor’s hand performance.

This gives VFX, VR, game dev and digital artists a faster way to create better characters, and one less thing to animate.

“Rokoko is making the impossible possible for us,” said Brian Parnell, founder/director for No Matter Studios. “The price is amazing, and the Smartgloves are incredibly fluid and responsive. They also work with virtually any 3D package out there, which is a huge time saver.”

Rather than spending countless hours animating individual finger movements (or simply doing without), artists can now slip on the Smartgloves and act out what they need. The gloves track movement by using Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) technology – the same tech that powers Rokoko’s Smartsuit Pro, a wearable body solution capable of recording full skeletal movements anywhere, in the field or on a stage. Data generated by the user can be exported, processed and edited directly within the free-to-use Rokoko Studio as part of a larger digital scene or to be stored for later use. The data can also be livestreamed into other platforms, including Unity, Unreal Engine, MotionBuilder, Maya, and Blender.

The gloves are made from a premium textile and leather material to be both durable and rugged, with seven embedded sensors placed to avoid restricting movement in performance capture. Whether used as a standalone device focused solely on hand movements or as part of a larger tracking solution, the Smartgloves can be seamlessly integrated into most existing mocap systems – both optical and inertial – including Rokoko’s own Smartsuit Pro. Smartgloves users will also receive frequent software updates at no additional cost. Planned updates will introduce additional functionality as well as increase compatibility.

“The number of projects that could benefit from motion capture is exploding around the world, but many creators have been shut out of the benefits solely because of costs and accessibility,” said Jakob Balslev, CEO and founder of Rokoko. “Part of the reason we originally founded Rokoko was to offer professional quality mocap to anyone that needs it, and the Smartgloves are the next major step in that direction.”

The Smartgloves join Rokoko's other products in what is quickly becoming a complete mocap ecosystem. Along with the Smartsuit and Smartgloves, animators and artists can also have access to Face Capture, a facial tracking software available to anyone with an iPhone. All recorded data, from face to fingers to body, can be synced together in Rokoko Studio to create a complete virtual production, and projects can also be supplemented with materials from Rokoko’s Motion Library, the world’s largest marketplace for ready-to-use mocap assets. Free plugins are also available for most major 3D platforms.

The first batch of Smartgloves will begin shipping in early November, with future shipments expected later this year. The Rokoko Smartgloves are available for pre-order directly through Rokoko’s website. The pre-order period will last until October 21. Rokoko’s Smartsuit Pro, Face Capture and Rokoko Studio are also available through resellers and directly from Rokoko.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (SV)