Oxford Metrics subsidiary announces new projects and partners

International software company Oxford Metrics announced on Wednesday that its specialist motion measurement subsidiary Vicon had launched two new products and new partners at this year's SIGGRAPH conference.

The AIM-traded firm said that firstly, Vicon launched a new camera measurement system ‘Vertex’, which it said integrates seamlessly with Vicon's existing systems of ‘Vantage’ and ‘Vero’.

“Vertex is compact, lightweight and has a wide angle field of view making it ideal for tracking in small or complex environments,” the Oxford Metrics board explained in its statement.

“This is of particular benefit to researchers when studying biomechanics in constrained locations or analysing the ergonomics of car drivers in the automotive industry.”

The company said Vertex also thrives in virtual reality cave environments, allowing customers to effectively position the cameras in corners without casting shadows onto the projections.

Secondly, Vicon announced the launch of ‘Cara Lite’ - a new, lighter version of the ‘Cara’ facial capture system which can operate with one or two cameras, delivering a “more flexible” system with a “rapid” set-up time.

Partnering with facial analysis and synthesis specialists Dynamixyz, Oxford Metrics said film and game studios could now integrate Dynamixyz's ‘Performer’ solution into the Cara Lite production pipeline, offering more realistic character animations.

“Using a mixture of marker-less and physical tracking, this practical solution opens the market up to film and game studios looking to achieve a higher-quality facial capture but with a lower cost of entry,” the board said.

Finally, the company said Vicon had collaborated with virtual reality gloves developer Manus VR, giving customers the ability to incorporate the Manus VR Glove into their production pipelines.

The board said the gloves provided full finger tracking and haptic feedback, delivering the sensation of touch in virtual environments.

For those deploying virtual reality environments, Oxford Metrics said hand and finger movements remained “invaluable”, as they allowed users to interact with their surroundings in a natural way, removing the need for controllers.

“When we announced our five-year plan, our strategy for Vicon was to target research and development spend on projects which enhance our product strength and fortify our market-leading position,” said Oxford Metrics CEO Nick Bolton.

“These latest launches announced at SIGGRAPH do exactly that.

“The price-point and flexibility of Cara Lite expands our facial capture system to an entirely new range of film and game studios, and our new measurement system, Vertex will help drive Vicon's growth in the virtual reality market.”