What Makes a Movement Human-Like?

Abstract

With the advancement of AI-generated human motion, it is of increasing importance to think about how we distinguish real human motion from machine-generated movements. In this study, we recruited professional performers to use the whole body to make a short movement to inform potential observers that they are real humans (instead of machines). Their movements were captured with a motion capture system (Vicon) and later reduced to dynamic point-like displays (biological motion). They were interviewed after the recording to provide their acting strategies. Naive observers who did not participate in the motion data collection were recruited to watch these videos and judge whether the biological motions looked human-like or not (YES/NO), as well as to report their judging criteria. The major factors extracted from these reports include kinematics, context, body mechanics, and principles of physical laws. We discuss the impact of these criteria and how they may possibly help improve the future generation of human-like motions.