Tackling noise while reducing latency is at the heart of this update
Motion capture technology specialist Vicon has announced Tracker 3, its latest upgrade for engineering object tracking, designed to address issues that often affect the perception of realism in an immersive environment.
Looking to improve the quality and precision of data used in Virtual Reality (VR) experiences, Tracker 3 now includes native integration with MathWorks Simulink, a simulation and model-based design application.
Vicon states that significant improvements have been made to increase the quality of the data, in particular to tackle the amount of unwanted ‘noise’ – inaccuracies found in any tracking environment.
This noise historically has been reduced through the application of filters but this results in increased latency – a delay between the object’s actual motion and the system response.
By implementing new computer vision algorithms Tracker 3 captures a higher quality of data which then requires less filtering, which should ultimately enhance the user’s experience.
Vicon suggests that this improved quality of data and reduced latency will enable engineers to take advantage of a heightened sense of immersion when using VR for product design.
With greater tracking precision the virtual environments become more believable.
Integration with model-based design software, Mathworks Simulink provides users with a faster feedback loop.
Data can now be natively integrated from the Vicon system in real-time. Simulink integration will also allow Vicon data to be received by the hardware platform itself.
Consequently enhancing the control system design by streamlining the process of incorporating the tracking data, and reducing the latency as experienced in previous techniques.
This increased openness will be particularly beneficial for robotic engineers as the integration will assist in the testing of robotic control systems and in ensuring robots move closer towards human qualities and movement.
“With Tracker 3, we’ve taken on board feedback from our customers and introduced many new features which massively enhance the believability of virtual reality experiences,” said Warren Lester, engineering product manager at Vicon.
“We’ve also simplified workflows and users can now track more objects faster than ever before.”
