Lake Forest, CA, March 6, 2003. Vicon has developed the Vicon Motion Tracker for Virtual Reality (VR), an optical motion tracking solution specifically designed for virtual reality, augmented reality and object tracking environments.
Vicon's VR solution, which uses small, reflective markers and high-speed, high-resolution cameras to simulate interaction with 3D virtual reality graphics and input devices, was recently installed at Los Alamos National Laboratory. Vicon motion capture systems are already in use at a number of scientific and engineering sites for data visualization, human-object interaction testing, virtual prototyping, ergonomics and other applications.
Precise tracking and real-time measurement of motion are key factors in creating a realistic sense of immersion in VR simulations. The Vicon Motion Tracker for VR introduces optical, strobe-based technology to rapidly and accurately track motion and position of such typical VR targets as head (or glasses), hands, wands and pointers by capturing light reflected from passive, unobtrusively attached spherical markers. In areas including speed, latency, precision and flexibility as well as ease of set up, calibration and use, the Vicon Motion Tracker outclasses obsolescent electromagnetic, inertial and ultrasonic capture alternatives.
The Vicon Motion Tracker provides six degrees of freedom for the full range
of targets required for VR systems, and can be used with IR-synchronized stereo glasses. With Vicon, users can capture a single subject, or multiple subjects in large environments simultaneously, tracking hundreds of markers on multiple independent targets with a single low-cost system.
Recent installation of a Vicon motion tracking system at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) represents the first application of Vicon with a fully immersive RAVE (Reconfigurable Automatic Virtual Environment) solution, offered by Fakespace Systems Inc. The moveable RAVE (and its fixed counterpart, the CAVE) requires real-time, viewer-centered head-tracking perspective with a large angle of view, interactive control and stereoscopic display. LANL needed a solution that could track head and wand orientation in the facility's large-scale RAVE to ensure accurate data gathering in real time.
The Laboratory's new Vicon system encompasses six cameras that are mounted in positions surrounding the six projected surfaces: four wall and two floor screens. The system can track the 15'x10'x9' capture volume, with data accuracy in the millimeter range.
"For this particular project, Los Alamos National Laboratory required a tracking system that allowed for flexibility with the re-configurable solution. As well, the tracking of multiple objects in a wide range of coverage was very useful," explained Steve Fine, Director of Engineering at Fakespace, contractor for the custom RAVE installation at LANL and the leading worldwide developer of systems, interaction devices and immersive environments for interactive visualization technologies. "Vicon's camera-based technology is totally passive, so it met the facility restrictions and accuracy requirements of LANL."
Vicon Motion Systems is a subsidiary of OMG plc (LSE: OMG) with global headquarters in Oxford, UK, and US headquarters in Lake Forest, CA. OMG subsidiary 2d3 Ltd. produces innovative visual geometry software deriving 3D data from moving images. Since 1984, Vicon has been providing professionals with the latest tools to accurately capture the subtleties of three-dimensional human motion for research, medicine, sport, engineering, game development, broadcast and film.
For more information, visit www.vicon.com
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