Digitised dogs offer insights into illness and entertainment

Developed at Bath University, the software could also be used to put digital representations of dogs into films and video games.

3D motion captured without markers

In the entertainment industry actors wear a suit dotted with white markers which are then precisely tracked in 3D space by multiple cameras taking images from different angles. Movement data can then be transferred onto a digital character for use in films or computer games.

Similar motion capture technology is used by biomechanics experts to track the movement of elite athletes during training, or to monitor patients' rehabilitation from injuries. However, these technologies - particularly when applying them to animals - require expensive equipment and dozens of markers to be attached.

Computer scientists from CAMERA, Bath University's motion capture research centre, digitised the movement of 14 different breeds of dog which were residents of the local Bath Cats' and Dogs' Home (BCDH).

Wearing special motion capture suits with markers, the dogs were filmed under the supervision of their BCDH handlers doing a range of movements.