Apolline Wasik & Léo Gammel from the Ubisoft Paris Studio, Just Dance team, tell you more about the development of the Camera Controller Feature available in Beta in Just Dance 2025 Edition, and officially launching this year with the 2026 edition of the game.

From Kinect to Camera: A New Era of Motion Recognition

It has been a big demand for years from our Just Dance community to offer a Kinect alternative in our future editions. Indeed, many of our core fans requested full-body motion recognition to increase the accuracy of their performance. In late 2021, Xbox discontinued the support for Kinect - that's when we started thinking about a new system using smartphone cameras. After one and a half years of full-time research and development, the Camera Controller feature is now ready to be V1 and used at its fullest in future Just Dance editions and more to come.

How It Works: Deep Learning Meets Dance

In comparison with the old Camera Scoring system (mainly based on Kinect), the new Camera Controller uses an existing Deep Learning model*. This model estimates the player's movements in the form of a 3-dimensional skeleton, compares it to the game coach's movements and produces a score. All data (distance, angles, orientations and motions measurements) between players and the game go through our comparison algorithm based on Machine Learning.  This enables accurate full body scoring instead of having only the right hand tracked thanks to the new motion controller**.

Furthermore, this new solution based on smartphone cameras is therefore independent from any console and allows us to release this feature simultaneously on PS5 and Xbox, and for the first time on Switch & Switch 2 as well.

A Unique Machine Learning Algorithm

The Machine Learning Algorithm, at the heart of the Camera Controller feature, is a creation from the Just Dance Production team composed of Data Scientists, Score Level Designers and Gameplay Programmers. It is based on data collection, labeling and motion recognition systems. As a starting point, a Machine Learning Algorithm was trained with internal data. Afterwards, this data was verified and labeled by the Score Level Design team with its quality monitored by the Data Science team. This Machine Learning Algorithm was then deployed into the game thanks to our Gameplay Programmers.

The full development process began in late 2023. In total, 9000 movements have been recorded with 6000 of them used for training and 3000 of them used for testing. We achieved an 80% success rate on data testing while the remaining 20% were manually balanced and adjusted by the Score Level Designers.

We released a Beta Phase to our community in December 2023 for them to have the opportunity to share their initial qualitative feedback about the feature and scoring feeling. Overall, the feedback was very positive with a much-appreciated learning curve for players.

The feature is unmatched in today's market

The new Camera Controller integrates motion recognition efficiently into the game thanks to a data-driven solution, powering accurate scoring results - that's what makes the Camera Controller stand out in the tech industry.

Since 2025, we have had a significantly bigger number of maps compatible with the feature with more consistent and stable scoring across different devices. Many technical improvements have been made this year to allow better responsiveness and reliability in scoring, with a more detailed evaluation of the choreography. Indeed, thanks to our new tailor-made tools, we now have enhanced control over the solution, giving us more freedom when balancing the score, offering the best Just Dance experience to our players.

What's next for Camera Scoring

We believe this proprietary scoring feature will add a big value to the future of our IP with more compatible gameplay on the way.  We are very proud to see the positive feedback of our community and will keep track of future feedback to improve our feature even further.

*A deep learning model is a type of artificial intelligence system that uses multiple layers of neural networks to learn and make decisions from large amounts of data.

**Three different scoring options in Just Dance 2026 Edition according to the device: Switch controllers exclusively for Switch & Switch 2 owners, Handheld motion Controller & Camera Controller through Just Dance Controller App available for all players.

Meet the speakers:

Apolline Wasik* is a Data Scientist specialized in Computer Vision at Ubisoft and worked on the R&D and production of the Camera Controller feature in Just Dance 2026 Edition, focusing on algorithmic data processing.*

Léo Gammel* is a Score Level Designer at Ubisoft and worked on the R&D and production of the Camera Controller feature in Just Dance 2026 Edition, focusing on scoring reliability and content production.*

What is the Camera Controller feature?

*Camera Controller mode is a feature in Just Dance that allows players to turn their phone's camera into a full-body motion recognition tool and try to reach higher levels of precision while dancing. How does it work? The phone's camera detects the player's movements, which are then compared with the coach's choreography on screen: the more closely the player's moves match the coach's, the higher their score.  This feature is only available for solo players and is available on Just Dance 2025 Controller. After being tested in beta for Just Dance 2025 Edition, the Camera Controller feature is now officially launching in Just Dance 2026 Edition and players can now enjoy a hands-free Just Dance experience. *