Sony's new full-body mobile motion capture kit is the next terrifying evolution for VTubers

Sony just unveiled new mobile motion capture hardware called Mocopi, a series of lightweight sensors attached to your body that lets you capture motion data with a smartphone app. This will allow folk to perform their own motion capture anywhere for a fraction of what this hardware would typically cost and do it much easier than most modern solutions that require a PC or cameras. 

Users can create 'avatar videos' using a smartphone app that will take your real-time motion data and translate it into movements for a preset or uploaded avatar, which by the looks of the promotional trailers, means you can finally take your VTuber catboy persona into the real-world. 

The process seems straightforward. You strap six tiny Bluetooth motion trackers to your head, wrists, ankles, and hip. After calibration, all your movements are transmitted wirelessly to your smartphone, where your avatar mimics you in real-time. 

According to the Japanese product listing page, you'll be able to export this data to other 3rd party software like Unity and MotionBuilder. So, you could, in theory, use this data for game development as a low-cost mocap alternative, assuming it all plays nicely with that software. 

As far as Mocopi working with VR headsets like the Quest 2 or Sony's own PSVR headset is concerned: According to the Sony Japan press site (Google translated into English, mind you), they allude that there will be some level of compatibility with VR headsets. 

Virtual reality

(Image credit: Valve)

Best VR headset: which kit should you choose?
Best graphics card: you need serious GPU power for VR
Best gaming laptop: don't get tied to your desktop in VR

Sony will release an SDK to developers on December 15 that will let them take the motion data and import it into various "metaverse services" in order to increase "the degree of video expression in virtual space." So a very strong maybe.

Mocopi is available for pre-order in Japan for 49,500 yen or $364 later this month and should be out in late January 2023. So the next time you're in Japan and see someone spontaneously break out into a dance at a park or back alley with little doohickies attached to their body, just stay clear; they are making content, baby.

TOPICS
Jorge Jimenez
Hardware writer, Human Pop-Tart

Jorge is a hardware writer from the enchanted lands of New Jersey. When he's not filling the office with the smell of Pop-Tarts, he's reviewing all sorts of gaming hardware, from laptops with the latest mobile GPUs to gaming chairs with built-in back massagers. He's been covering games and tech for over ten years and has written for Dualshockers, WCCFtech, Tom's Guide, and a bunch of other places on the world wide web. 

Read more
An anime character imprisoned within the confines of the Code27 Character Livehouse.
Tiny anime girl cyberprison shown at CES
Pimax Dream Air VR headset on a grey background
This upcoming Micro-OLED VR headset has absolutely everything and weighs less than 200 grams but of course it costs nearly 4x the Quest 3
Aloy
'Creepy,' 'ghastly,' 'rancid': Viewers react to leaked video of Sony's AI-powered Aloy
Meta Horizon OS on a box.
The upcoming Asus VR project is rumoured to have eye and face tracking, yet the thing I'm most excited about is its OS
The HTC Vive XR Elite front three quarter angle
Google is bulk buying HTC Vive engineers to help Android XR become a platform that can rival Meta's VR/AR dominance
Cognixion’s AI powered headset
New headset reads minds and uses AR, AI and machine learning to help people with locked-in-syndrome communicate with loved ones again
Latest in VR Hardware
Varjo Aero
Nvidia confirms 'open issue' with Varjo Aero VR headsets and RTX 50-series graphics cards after affected users ask for help
A "sensor-actuator–coupled gustatory interface chemically connecting virtual and real environments for remote tasting," or essentially a virtual reality tongue in an artificial mouth
Would you like to taste fish soup in VR? Me neither, but this electronic tongue does it anyway
Varjo Aero
Varjo Aero VR headsets seem to be not working on RTX 5090s, and its community is opting for strange solutions while waiting for an Nvidia driver release to fix it
A still from a YouTube video showing The Swedish Maker cutting a piece of wood with power tools while wearing a Meta Quest 3 VR headset.
YouTuber The Swedish Maker wears a Meta Quest 3 VR headset for his entire woodworking project and miraculously emerges with all fingers intact
The HTC Vive XR Elite front three quarter angle
Google is bulk buying HTC Vive engineers to help Android XR become a platform that can rival Meta's VR/AR dominance
Meta Horizon OS on a box.
The upcoming Asus VR project is rumoured to have eye and face tracking, yet the thing I'm most excited about is its OS
Latest in News
gta 6 trailer
Publishers 'don't want to be anywhere near' Grand Theft Auto 6 when it launches: 'It's proving to be very stressful'
Microsoft's iconic Bliss wallpaper
From pixels to pinot: The Windows XP 'Bliss' wallpaper hill was real and this is what it looks like now
A female Zoi making two hearts with her fingers.
Following 24 hours of Denuvo-based backlash, Inzoi is taking a surprising step and removing it entirely: 'We want to sincerely apologise for not aligning more closely with player expectations'
An image of a Helldiver from Helldivers 2 shooting at a red dragon from Dungeons & Dragons.
'Ok, so dragon builds are a thing now': galaxy-brained Helldivers 2 player incinerates a bile titan with a hover pack and a flamethrower
An ancient, angry stone mech from No Man's Sky's new Relics update
No Man’s Sky lets you unearth ancient, angry mechs in the astro-archaeology filled Relics update
Assassin's Creed Shadows promo image
Ubisoft scores a legendary ratio against Elon Musk on his own platform—which hopefully marks a final end to all the Assassin's Creed Shadows' culture war nonsense