More RFID Journal Sites: RFID Journal Espanol RFID Journal Brasil RFID Journal Events RFID Journal Awards
Health Care NEWS
Text size:
T
T
T
RFID Advances Video Game Development
TimeDomain's PLUS system provides time-of-arrival measurements that signify the amount of time it takes for the UWB signal to travel from a tag to the PLUS readers installed in the room or surrounding area. Xsens integrates those measurements with data from the inertial sensors to improve the sensors' accuracy and update rates, as well as provide the exact position of the body being tracked in 3-D.
The PLUS network can provide indoor location information at accuracy levels previously unavailable from Wi-Fi or other RTLS technologies, according to Greg Clawson, Time Domain' senior VP. "Sensors are placed on the feet or body," he says, "depending on the scene, or the movement they are trying to capture for a particular scene."
Xsens relies on Time Domain's standard PLUS battery-powered tags, as well as readers and antenna housings. The company paints them black so they can blend in with other equipment on video game and movie sets. Time Domain's synchronization port provides timing and power to the system. Xsens wrote a set of algorithms to pull location data into the software application.
The sensor system built from the PLUS battery-powered tags transmits a UWB signal and unique ID. The signal is received by both reader and antenna. At least three interrogators are required to triangulate the tag in order to determine its precise location. A synchronization and distribution panel provides a time signal to all connected UWB PLUS readers, in order to synchronize them, and links the readers with a PC or laptop through a local area network.
Xsens' founder and CTO, Per Slycke, says Time Domain's technology provides the one component the Xsens system had been missing. Historically, the application could track an object, but not register the "absolute position in space," he says. "Now, we don't need a camera system to track human motion. EA could use our MVN technology to create games for the Microsoft Xbox 360 or Sony PlayStation."
And while MVN supports animation efforts, Xsens is also marketing the technology to the health-care industry, because doctors can employ the same application to assess knee or shoulder movements before and after surgery. Many medical conditions, including sports industries and strokes, involve some form of movement impairment. Doctors can monitor the movement of post-surgery patients using inertial sensors in 3-D, Slycke says.
more Health Care articles
The PLUS network can provide indoor location information at accuracy levels previously unavailable from Wi-Fi or other RTLS technologies, according to Greg Clawson, Time Domain' senior VP. "Sensors are placed on the feet or body," he says, "depending on the scene, or the movement they are trying to capture for a particular scene."
Xsens relies on Time Domain's standard PLUS battery-powered tags, as well as readers and antenna housings. The company paints them black so they can blend in with other equipment on video game and movie sets. Time Domain's synchronization port provides timing and power to the system. Xsens wrote a set of algorithms to pull location data into the software application.
The sensor system built from the PLUS battery-powered tags transmits a UWB signal and unique ID. The signal is received by both reader and antenna. At least three interrogators are required to triangulate the tag in order to determine its precise location. A synchronization and distribution panel provides a time signal to all connected UWB PLUS readers, in order to synchronize them, and links the readers with a PC or laptop through a local area network.
And while MVN supports animation efforts, Xsens is also marketing the technology to the health-care industry, because doctors can employ the same application to assess knee or shoulder movements before and after surgery. Many medical conditions, including sports industries and strokes, involve some form of movement impairment. Doctors can monitor the movement of post-surgery patients using inertial sensors in 3-D, Slycke says.
