Productizing Single Camera MoCap
And why building our own single camera motion camera product doesn't change our belief that we are NOT a motion capture company.
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“We are not a motion capture company.”
It’s a claim we’ve made many times.
There are many reasons for this, but the TLDR is: we don’t focus on the tech. We focus on the mission- helping large organizations excel in biomechanics at scale.
And we do that by any means necessary.
For in-game data, we take key points generated from marker-less systems and run them through our pipeline to generate the joint angles, metrics, and reports teams use to innovate, develop talent, and make key decisions.
However, as we’ve worked with our partner teams, we kept hearing about a constant pain: they lacked a good solution for capturing data outside of game and lab environments.
We aren’t a motion capture company. We are, however, singularly focused on helping our partners excel in biomechanics at scale.
If they need a mobile solution to fill gaps where permanent marker-less installations aren’t feasible, it is our job to provide it.
And that’s exactly what we did.
Overview
When building single camera motion capture for pro teams, we optimized for three things: accuracy, flexibility, and full service.
Accuracy
The immediate question teams always ask is “Can you get trustworthy data from a single camera?”
That’s the right first question, and one we are happy to answer.
While we never pitch single-camera motion capture as a replacement for great marker-less systems, we do believe:
We are more accurate than any other single camera option.
The gap between single-camera and more elaborate solutions is narrowing as computer vision technology improves.
Trustworthy single-camera motion capture exists, and it’s far better than being blind.
(For more detail on our validation results, please reach out.)
Flexibility
If the first hurdle is technical viability, the next one is ease of use.
Since our goal is organization wide adoption, and since we know different users- analysts, scouts, coaches, etc.- have different work flows, we needed to prioritize flexibility and allow our partners to 1) capture and 2) upload videos in various ways.
For capture, partners can 1) record new video with any camera (iPhone, Edgertronic, Sony, etc.) or 2) utilize the video they already have (ex. Synergy video).
They then can upload via our 1) API or 2) Dashboard- demoed here.
By offering a range of options, we can meet any team’s demands:
A scout on the road? Just record with slow motion video.
No WiFi? Upload later at your convenience.
Have a backlog of video from years of showcases? Bulk upload via our API.
Full Service
Once we are 1) accurate enough and 2) flexible enough, we need to ensure we are 3) impactful enough.
We are building for pro sports teams, but more specifically we are building for the data scientists, biomechanists, and coaches that drive success.
To empower the stars behind the stars, we define “full service” in the following ways:
Full Service Applications. We started by analyzing pitching and hitting, but now have a growing list of general fitness movements (squats, jumps, lunges, etc.).
Full Service Deliverables. Biomechanists want to analyze joint angles; data scientists want momentum and energy metrics; coaches want reports that mirror what they are used to from in-game data. We serve all relevant groups.
Full Service Support. We have partners, not customers. We are always available to solve problems whenever and however they arise.
What We’re Building
Today, we are delivering MLB’s best single camera motion capture solution.
But that does not mean we are a motion camera company.
It means we are a movement analysis company helping large organizations excel in biomechanics at scale.
We consistently heard reliable, flexible, and robust single-camera motion capture was essential to our partners.
And building a solution that helps our partners fulfill their mission will always be part of ours.
(For more detail on Reboot Single Camera Motion Capture, check out our user guide here.)