Movin, a startup that develops AI-based real-time motion capture devices, has raised 4 billion won (about $2.7 million) in a pre-Series A funding round to fuel its expansion into providing 3D motion data to help companies develop humanoid robots.
The round was led by Atinum, with participation from South Korean internet giant Naver’s corporate venture arm, Naver D2SF; DSC Investment and its startup accelerator, Schmidt; and Krew Capital. Movin declined to disclose its valuation.
“3D motion data is essential for AI to understand human movements and behaviors,” Yang Sang-hwan, head of Naver D2SF, said in a Wednesday statement announcing the funding. “Its demand will continue to grow not only in the entertainment sector, such as VTubers and games, but also in robotics and healthcare.”
Based in Seongnam, south of Seoul, Movin was founded in 2023 by a group of Ph.D. researchers specializing in 3D human motion from the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, South Korea’s leading science and technology university.
Movin’s flagship product is Tracin, an AI-based real-time motion capture device that uses Lidar, a laser-based sensor. Compared to the traditional means of real-time motion capture, such as Vicon’s optical motion tracking systems, Movin claims that Tracin is cheaper (one-tenth the cost) as well as faster (5 minutes vs. 2 hours) and easier (one device vs. four to six cameras) to set up while maintaining high quality. More than 50 game studios, virtual YouTubers and entertainment companies across 11 countries, mostly in the U.S., South Korea and the U.K., have ordered Tracin devices.
Last week, Movin showcased its Tracin device at the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco. The attendees were most impressed by how easy Tracin was to use and by the quality, says Movin cofounder and CEO Byeoli Choi in an interview. “They thought that one device was impossible because of the high motion quality and low latency,” says Choi, who previously worked at Naver’s metaverse platform Zepeto.
Movin plans to launch an office in Los Angeles in the second half of the year to be closer to its customers, especially game studios. “Tracin is already integrated with game engines like Unity, Unreal, Maya and Blender,” says Choi. “We already have our own plugins, so users can simply install the plugins and then they can live-stream Movin Tracin motion data to their game engine. Just plug and play.”
Games developed using motion-capture technology include Epic Games’ Fortnite, Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed and Take-Two Interactive subsidiary Rockstar Games’ Grand Theft Auto.
Earlier this month, Movin established an in-house studio to collect high-quality 3D motion data to help develop AI-powered humanoid robots. “The next frontier for AI is 3D data, particularly 3D motion data,” says Choi. “Motion capture remains the only way to obtain high-quality 3D motion data, and Movin Tracin is the only system in the world capable of capturing large volumes of high-quality 3D motion data efficiently.”
The popularity of AI is boosting interest in robotics, as the technology enables robots to learn movements more efficiently beyond pre-programmed routines. Tesla, for example, is working on a humanoid robot called Optimus. Earlier this month, Samsung Electronics acquired an additional stake in Kosdaq-listed Rainbow Robotics for about $180 million to strengthen its foothold in the AI-powered robot space.
