The KIT whole-body human motion database

Abstract

We present a large-scale whole-body human motion database consisting of captured raw motion data as well as the corresponding post-processed motions. This database serves as a key element for a wide variety of research questions related e.g. to human motion analysis, imitation learning, action recognition and motion generation in robotics. In contrast to previous approaches, the motion data in our database considers the motions of the observed human subject as well as the objects with which the subject is interacting. The information about human-object relations is crucial for the proper understanding of human actions and their goal-directed reproduction on a robot. To facilitate the creation and processing of human motion data, we propose procedures and techniques for capturing of motion, labeling and organization of the motion capture data based on a Motion Description Tree, as well as for the normalization of human motion to an unified representation based on a reference model of the human body. We provide software tools and interfaces to the database allowing access and efficient search with the proposed motion representation.