M-body AI

M-body AI is an open-source applied research project focused on advancing generative character animation technologies. Led by a collaboration of four Canadian research centers and funded by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), M-body aims to provide valuable tools and datasets to both academic researchers and industry professionals. The project develops free generative animation software, integration toolkits for animation pipelines, and high-quality multi-modal datasets capturing human motion, facial expressions, and interactions. These resources support efficient creation and training of humanoid animations, contributing to animation, AI research, and creative industries.

Key Features

• Open-Source Generative Animation Tools: Freely available tools that improve the efficiency of creating humanoid character animations.
• Multi-Modal Motion Capture Dataset: A commercially usable dataset that captures body, hand, facial movements and audio for realistic animated interactions.
• Interdisciplinary Research Collaboration: Work led by four Canadian applied research centers combining AI, performance capture, and user-centered design expertise.
• Early Partner Access & Industry Guidance: Project partners can help steer development and gain early access to software and datasets for integration and feedback.

Use Cases

• Animation Studios: Streamline humanoid animation creation workflows with advanced generative tools.
• Academic Research: Support machine learning research using rich, synchronized datasets of human motion and interaction.
• Software Developers: Integrate generative character performance models into existing content creation tools with open-source software systems.