OXFORD, UK – Vicon (www.vicon.com) has introduced its first integrated inertial sensor, expanding the company’s data collection capabilities beyond the traditional optical motion capture volume. By adding Vicon IMU sensors to their systems, users will be able to harness both data streams concurrently or separately.
“Optical and inertial technologies each have advantages in different motion tracking situations, and the need to harness the best of both has been steadily growing,” says Derek Potter, head of product management at Vicon. “By directly integrating inertial sensors into Nexus, our life science software, and providing easy-to-use mobile applications, we can now deliver limitless motion capture. That’s what makes the integration of IMU technology so exciting. If you want to track a runner with inertial and optical data, you can do so using one solution, inside or out. It’s incredibly efficient and very easy to use”.
The ability to compare motion capture data from both lab and external settings – while not necessary for every application – is on the rise, as it gives life sciences professionals insights that were previously either unavailable or very difficult to attain. Using simultaneous capture techniques, users can now conduct on-the-spot comparisons and technology tests in the same software platform, saving time and resources.
Vicon’s software and mobile applications provide immediate access to data. Results can be reviewed in graph form, showing each type of data collected, as well as supplementary findings from other integrated products (such as force plates and electromyography systems). Each data source can be then exported for further analysis, in Excel, MATLAB or Python.
Nexus 2.7 marks the first integration of IMeasureU sensor technology into the Vicon ecosystem. Acquired by Vicon in June 2017, IMeasureU develops high-fidelity inertial tracking sensors that enable researchers, coaches and athletes to gain performance insights through movement and workload analysis. When paired with Vicon’s highly precise optical and video cameras and Nexus, users will have everything they need to conduct data-driven studies of subjects, whether they work in biomechanics, sports or academia.
“Integration of the wearable IMU sensors enabling in-lab and in-situ measurement, will accelerate the validation of multimodal data collection,” said Imogen Moorhouse, CEO of Vicon. We acquired IMeasureU because we saw the value in providing a wider choice of tracking modality to our customers. The possibilities that this integration provides in the immediate and long term are truly exciting and we’re very eager to see how our customers make use of this evolution in tracking technology.