3MM BUBBLES TRACKED WITH VICON IN UK'S ONLY FULL-SCALE AUTOMOTIVE AERODYNAMICS WIND TUNNEL

23 November 2009, Oxford, UK: MIRA, an independent automotive engineering, testing and consultancy organization, is now able to track three millimeter helium bubbles as part of an airflow simulation technique inside the UK’s only full-scale automotive wind tunnel. This technique, only possible thanks to the Vicon T40 motion capture camera, aims to help design more environmentally friendly cars.

Vicon is a provider of motion capture products to the Engineering, Life Science and Entertainment markets. The technology is more commonly associated with transforming A-List celebrities into animated characters in films and analyzing the movements of athletes to improve training and performance.

Bubble tracking has always been a fairly manual process, limited by small capture volumes and the labor intensive task of processing the data. MIRA’s technique is completely new. It utilizes a high-end motion capture system from Vicon that is accurate enough to be able to track each bubble in a 3mx2mx2m volume, giving engineers precise flow data in hours, rather than months.

“MIRA chose Vicon’s T-Series cameras for its innovative helium bubble flow visualization technique because of its unique mix of high resolution, fast capture rates and proven motion tracking abilities,” said Angus Lock at MIRA.

“The technical support from Vicon during the Technology Strategy Board funded project enabled us to exploit these class leading technologies in a completely new application area, as well as rapidly getting to grips with the capabilities of the system. We’re looking forward to continuing our technical partnership with Vicon, and are sure that it will allow us to deliver a truly world class aerodynamic flow visualization technique.”

“MIRA uniquely demonstrates the true capabilities of the T-Series camera. Something that was previously extremely time consuming and provided limited results is now one of the most innovative airflow visualization techniques in the world,” said Imogen Moorhouse, managing director at Vicon. “It’s inspiring that two British companies are leading the way for precision technology and engineering world-wide. We’re proud to be partnered with MIRA and look forward to working closely with them in the future.”

-Ends-

For video footage please see: http://www.youtube.com/user/Vicon100
For images, please contact: hayley.roberts@omg3d.com

About Vicon
Academy Award®-winning Vicon is the world’s largest supplier of precision motion tracking systems, and match moving software. It serves customers in the CG animation industry, film, visual effects, computer games, and broadcast television, as well as engineering and life science industries. Vicon operates in four offices worldwide, including its Los Angeles-based Entertainment headquarters: a 26,000 square-foot facility equipped with three performance capture stages for Vicon’s service company House of Moves.

Vicon is a subsidiary of OMG (Oxford Metrics Group - LSE: OMG), plc., a group of technology companies that produces image understanding solutions for the Entertainment, Defence, Life Science and Engineering markets. Other holdings include: 2d3, a manufacturer of specialised image understanding software for defence applications; Yotta DCL our highways surveying business in the UK; and Yotta MVS, a leading US provider of data collection services for the assessment of property taxation.

Vicon and OMG global clients include: Life Science leaders University of Pennsylvania, the VA Hospitals, Shriners Hospitals for Children, Titleist Golf, The Andrews Institute; Engineering industry leaders Ford, BMW, Airbus, Lockheed, Pratt-Whitney, NASA, Caterpillar, International Truck, and Toyota; and Entertainment companies Sony Pictures Imageworks, Sony Computer Entertainment, Industrial Light and Magic, Sega, Nintendo, Ubisoft, Vivendi, Electronic Arts, Square Enix and many others.

For more information about OMG and its subsidiaries, visit www.omg3d.com, www.vicon.com, www.vicon.com/boujou, www.2d3.com, www.yotta.tv, or www.yottamvs.com.

Press Contact
Hayley Roberts
Oxford Metrics Group
Email: hayley.roberts@omg3d.com
Tel: +44186 526 1800