Reliability assessment of markerless technologies in biomechanical motion analysis: a performance comparison
File(s)
Published version
Author(s)
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Introduction: Body tracking systems are utilized in various areas such as health and sports. In these areas, it is crucial to identify the most accurate and appropriate system for the intended design of the study.
Methods: This study evaluates the reliability of markerless motion capture systems compared to a marker-based system (OptiTrack) as the gold standard. The systems assessed include StereoLabs ZED 2i, MediaPipe (2D and 3D), and YOLOv8 Pose (8n and 8x-p6). Simple upper and lower limb movements were analyzed under controlled conditions in a single participant. Intraclass Correlation Coefficient (ICC) values and Bland-Altman analysis were mainly used to evaluate agreement between systems, with some other techniques explored to provide additional perspective.
Results: The results indicate that StereoLabs ZED 2i achieved the highest reliability among markerless systems (ICC: 0.92 for multi camera, 0.88 for single stereo camera), while MediaPipe 2D showed competitive performance (ICC: 0.85).
Discussion: In providing comprehensive evaluations and uncovering performance differences that have been largely overlooked in the literature, our work not only questions existing paradigms but also lays a foundation for future research aimed at developing precise and scalable motion-tracking technologies. These findings contribute to understanding the applicability of markerless technologies in biomechanics.
Methods: This study evaluates the reliability of markerless motion capture systems compared to a marker-based system (OptiTrack) as the gold standard. The systems assessed include StereoLabs ZED 2i, MediaPipe (2D and 3D), and YOLOv8 Pose (8n and 8x-p6). Simple upper and lower limb movements were analyzed under controlled conditions in a single participant. Intraclass Correlation Coefficient (ICC) values and Bland-Altman analysis were mainly used to evaluate agreement between systems, with some other techniques explored to provide additional perspective.
Results: The results indicate that StereoLabs ZED 2i achieved the highest reliability among markerless systems (ICC: 0.92 for multi camera, 0.88 for single stereo camera), while MediaPipe 2D showed competitive performance (ICC: 0.85).
Discussion: In providing comprehensive evaluations and uncovering performance differences that have been largely overlooked in the literature, our work not only questions existing paradigms but also lays a foundation for future research aimed at developing precise and scalable motion-tracking technologies. These findings contribute to understanding the applicability of markerless technologies in biomechanics.
Date Issued
2026-01-12
Date Acceptance
2025-12-16
Citation
Frontiers in Sports and Active Living, 2026, 7
ISSN
2624-9367
Publisher
Frontiers Media S.A.
Journal / Book Title
Frontiers in Sports and Active Living
Volume
7
Copyright Statement
© 2026 Balci, Sayin, Salturk, Gursoy, Ozsoy, Dogru, Akca, Eraslan, Sahin, Demircali and Uvet. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
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Publication Status
Published
Article Number
1712332
Date Publish Online
2026-01-12