UNIVERSITY OF SALFORD DRIVES GESTURE RECOGNITION RESEARCH WITH VICON MOTION TRACKING SOLUTION

Real-Time 3D Tracking Takes Human Gesture-Based Workspace Interaction from Minority Report - Like Science Fiction to New Real-World Level

Oxford UK (March 10, 2004) VICON, the leading developer in motion capture, announced that the University of Salford, U.K., is using the latest in VICON tracking technology to demonstrate and evaluate real-world ways for people to interact with computers and other displays via natural, gesture-based commands. The research, being done at the Future Workspaces Research Centre at the University of Salford, is studying an array of scenarios from future design workspaces to immersive tele-environments that eschew computer mouse and keyboard in favor of a person's body as the primary control interface.

Gesture recognition involves reading human movement and communicating that data to direct the operation of devices or applications. One recent, recognizable depiction of this in the 2D plane was the information screens manipulated by the characters in the Steven Spielberg film 'Minority Report' using gloved hands and four finger tracking points. The University of Salford is similarly exploring the power of gesture-based interaction, but with a full range of 3D hand-motion and immersive experiences in VR.

We are looking at gesture recognition as a way to interact more naturally with environments and objects in workspace settings and mobile VR solutions of the future, said Dr. Terrence Fernando, Professor of Virtual Prototyping at the University of Salford's Future Workspaces Research Centre. Because we are especially interested in ambient interfaces that let the user focus on the job at hand without being distracted by the supporting technology, we needed to move to a motion tracking option that was powerful yet unobtrusive. VICON is giving us very good results for our requirements because it is highly accurate, wire-free and uses small, compact cameras. The real-time performance with VICON also ensures instant updating of visual position and field of view with no delay, which is key for keeping users fully absorbed in a simulation.

In Salford's tests, users can interact with a virtual environment with two hands, using pinch-gestures to signify selection of objects. Multiple tracking points, attached as light-weight reflective VICON markers on a set of 3D goggles and along fingers and bones on a pair of gloves, enable the user's actions and orientation to be captured by an array of VICON SVCam cameras and relayed to VICON Tracker software, which displays the information as a series of points. Once calibrated, the VICON system is operated in real time, automatically applying the user's moves to objects in 3D space. The small footprint and wide angle of the cameras allows for optimal performance with VR systems ranging from Workbench displays to Configurable Automatic Virtual Environments (CAVEs). The VICON Tracker software also allows the system to be quickly re-configured to objects or subjects of varying sizes entering the capture space.

VICON is an integral technology that is allowing us to assess how gesture command works to solve a number of real engineering scenarios and problems, Dr. Fernando continued. Install a VICON camera and a small VR screen, and a designer sitting at a desk could enter and intuitively explore their proposed building plans. An engineering team could collaborate via 3D conferencing on design reviews. Or the system could support construction of interactive spaces for social and special needs groups. Many people are beginning to track input devices like the Wand in VICON, but we feel the system's current capabilities go further to help us read and understand the 3D nuances of the human hand.

VICON's motion tracking solution consists of high-resolution, high-frame-rate cameras built by VICON specifically for motion tracking. The cameras are powered and driven by a datastation that processes video from up to 24 VICON cameras and powers the strobe lights used to illuminate the small and lightweight reflective markers that serve as tracking points. This is all controlled by VICON Tracker software, which outputs the 3D position and orientation of many objects or bodies across a TCP/IP network stream. Systems can be configured to incorporate a variety of the company's cameras for any application or environment. VICON products are used within life science and engineering markets for such applications as biomechanics, data visualization, virtual prototyping, manufacturing and design.

About VICON

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 about VICON, or to view a comprehensive list of worldwide distributors, visit www.vicon.com, or contact +44 (0) 1865-261800 in the U.K. or (949) 472-9140 in the U.S.

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