Advances in description of 3D human motion

This paper aims to provide a comprehensive reference source on depth-based human motion descriptors. Motion description is a challenging problem which became popular with recent advances in 3D computer vision. Our purpose is twofold. First, we introduce the main trends in human 3D motion descriptor design and evaluation. Second, we present a review of recent methods belonging to three different application categories: action recognition, gesture recognition and gait assessment. Selected categories have different specifics, which allow us to highlight aspects of a motion descriptor construction. A comparison of different methods by their main characteristics is provided. Finally, possible directions and recommendations for future research in 3D motion description are outlined.