A comprehensive survey of computer vision-based human motion capture literature from the past two decades is presented. The focus is on a general overview based on a taxonomy of system functionalities, broken down into four processes: initialization, track

ComputerVisionandImageUnderstanding81,231–268(2001)

doi:10.1006/cviu.2000.0897,availableonlineatwww.1mpi.com

on

ASurveyofComputerVision-BasedHuman

MotionCapture

ThomasB.MoeslundandErikGranum

LaboratoryofComputerVisionandMediaTechnology,AalborgUniversity,

NielsJernesVej14,9220Aalborg,Denmark

E-mail:tbm@cvmt.auc.dk,eg@cvmt.auc.dk

ReceivedDecember2,1999;acceptedSeptember27,2000

Acomprehensivesurveyofcomputervision-basedhumanmotioncapturelitera-

turefromthepasttwodecadesispresented.Thefocusisonageneraloverviewbased

onataxonomyofsystemfunctionalities,brokendownintofourprocesses:initial-

ization,tracking,poseestimation,andrecognition.Eachprocessisdiscussedand

dividedintosubprocessesand/orcategoriesofmethodstoprovideareferencetode-

scribeandcomparethemorethan130publicationscoveredbythesurvey.References

areincludedthroughoutthepapertoexemplifyimportantissuesandtheirrelations

tothevariousmethods.Anumberofgeneralassumptionsusedinthisresearch eld

areidenti edandthecharacteroftheseassumptionsindicatesthattheresearch eld

isstillinanearlystageofdevelopment.Toevaluatethestateoftheart,themajor

applicationareasareidenti edandperformancesareanalyzedinlightofthemeth-

odspresentedinthesurvey.Finally,suggestionsforfutureresearchdirectionsare

c2001AcademicPressoffered.

CONTENTS

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.Introduction.SurveysandTaxonomies.Initialization.Tracking.PoseEstimation.Recognition.Discussion.Conclusion.

1.INTRODUCTION

Theanalysisofhumanactionsbyacomputerisgainingmoreandmoreinterest.Asigni cantpartofthistaskistoregisterthemotion,aprocessknownashumanmotion

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c2001byAcademicPressCopyright

Allrightsofreproductioninanyformreserved.