online-gym: a 3d virtual gymnasium using kinect interaction
DESCRIPTION
Synchronized online gymnastics could provide new possibilities for enhancing the physical and social well-being of people with restricted mobility. We propose a prototype platform for this – Online-Gym – which allows users to interact using a Microsoft Kinect and participate in on-line gymnastics sessions. In this paper we present the Online-Gym concept and a first iteration on the platform architecture that allows interaction in virtual worlds with movement captured by a Kinect device. The exploratory work done so far makes evidence that this approach opens significant opportunities and these scenarios may be further developed, enhanced and enriched.TRANSCRIPT
Online-Gym: a 3D virtual gymnasium
using Kinect interactionFernando Cassola | Leonel Morgado | Hugo Paredes | Benjamim
Fonseca | Paulo Martins INESC TEC / UTADFausto de Carvalho - PT Inovação
21-23 November, 2013Vila Real - Portugal
Topics
• Interactive technologies and physical activity
• Motion Capture Devices
• The Online-Gym project
• System architecture
• Conclusions
• Future work
Interactive technologies and physical activity
• Videogames: high potential to promote physical exercise
• Exergames: provide to the user the development of sensory and motor skills
• “playing exergames could become one of the most popular, engaging, and health-promoting homework assignments of the twenty-first century”- Staiano and Calvert (2011)
Interactive technologies and physical activity
• Many elderly refuse to participating in regular training sessions outside their homes
• Exergames can help motivate elderly to exercise more
• 3D platforms: multi-user, collaborative, shared virtual environments, the “being there” presence
Motion Capture Devices
+ cheaper+ intuitive
The Online-Gym project
• Online-Gym is an exploratory project prototyping an online 3D platform based on virtual worlds that allows users to interact with the system through the use of a motion capture device such as Microsoft Kinect
The Online-Gym project RINIONS FAAST NUILIB
Pre-defined movements No Yes Yes
Integration with Second
Life / OpenSimulator
Viewer adaptado
(pequena
extensão)
É necessário
implementar nos
viewers toda a
reprodução dos
gestos
É necessário
implementar nos
viewers toda a
reprodução dos
gestos
Source-code OpenAnnounced but not
availableOpen
SoftwareMicrosoft Kinect
SDK / OpenNIOpenNI
Microsoft Kinect
SDK / OpenNI
System architecture
Conclusions• The Online-Gym project has a lot of potential for users who
are isolated, dispersed geographically or with reduced mobility.
• We should be careful particularly in the synchronization of the movements and their impact on the network for other users.
• The integration between virtual 3D platforms and motion capture devices have a huge margin for improvement and there is potential for development and deployment of such services.
Future work
• Need to further study the solutions for remote transmission of gestures made in front of the Kinect.
• How can we synchronize the movements made by each user physically distant.
• The issue of the platform independence
Online-Gym: a 3D virtual gymnasium
using Kinect interactionFernando Cassola | Leonel Morgado | Hugo Paredes | Benjamim
Fonseca | Paulo Martins INESC TEC / UTADFausto de Carvalho - PT Inovação
21-23 November, 2013Vila Real - Portugal