The VSR Program Announces Strategic Collaboration with VICON Motion Systems

[Virtual Soldier Research <vsr@ccad.uiowa.edu>]

The Virtual Soldier Research Program Announces Strategic Collaboration
with VICON Motion Systems

Iowa City, IA (August 24, 2004) ? The Virtual Soldier Research (VSR)
program at The University of Iowa?s College of Engineering today
announced a strategic collaboration with VICON, the leading developer in
motion capture systems.  Using VICON?s advanced optical motion
capture technology, the VSR program will conduct research on real-time
interaction with virtual humans, with motion capture data of human
subjects being applied to validate mathematical results for human motion
prediction. 

VSR research will use VICON real-time motion capture to drive virtual
humans in a digital world to support the US Army Transformation vision
for Future Combat Systems, where digital mockups are evaluated early
during the design cycle. VICON?s motion capture system will also be used
for tracking weapons and equipment in a virtual reality environment for
training, maintainability analysis, and human factors studies.  Via
the collaboration, the VSR program acquired an advanced setup for motion
capture, software and hardware, and will serve as a beta testing site for
VICON?s most recent research in cameras, optical technology, and tracking
suits.  

?The use of VICON?s motion capture system will allow us to drive, in real
time, the motion of Santos, our intelligent virtual human. 
VICON?s accurate cameras and advanced software will enable us to resolve
long-standing issues in the field of digital human modeling and
simulation,? said Dr. Karim Abdel-Malek, Director of the VSR program at
The University of Iowa. 

?We are very excited to participate in this project. VSR represents a
leading edge use of animation, game, and motion capture technology
applied into the world of human factors engineering,? said Jon Damush,
Business Development Manager, VICON. ?By using animation techniques
traditionally applied in entertainment, VSR is producing results that are
not only quantitative ? the data that is usually generated in engineering
applications ? but also qualitative in the form of high-quality rendered
output to truly visualize the way that real soldiers might react on the
field.?

About VSR
The VSR program is an independent research group within the Center
for Computer-Aided Design (CCAD), The University of Iowa.  This
eight-month-?young? program, funded primarily by the US Army TACOM,
conducts basic and applied research for creating new technologies dealing
with digital human modeling and simulation.  TACOM and the
industrial design industry, in general, are looking for ways to eliminate
building extremely expensive, real-world prototypes. 

VSR?s objective is to create autonomous, digital humans that can answer
human-factors questions in the virtual world environment. The University
of Iowa researchers (faculty, staff, scientists, engineers, clinical
researchers, and graduate students) from various fields including
engineering, gaming, psychology, biomechanics, human factors, computers,
optimization, and industrial design have come together to create this new
technology. The development and use of autonomous, virtual soldiers that
can experience computer-modeled versions of proposed vehicles and weapons
systems in the virtual world - and then provide feedback on the designs ?
brings eliminating the need for producing real-world prototypes for human
factors research several steps closer to reality.  

About VICON 

VICON Motion Systems is a subsidiary of OMG plc (LSE: OMG) with
global headquarters in Oxford, UK, and US headquarters in Lake Forest,
CA. OMG subsidiary 2d3 Ltd. produces innovative visual geometry software
deriving 3D data from moving images. Since 1984, VICON has been providing
professionals with the latest tools to accurately capture the subtleties
of three-dimensional human motion for research, medicine, sport,
engineering, game development, broadcast and film. For more information
about VICON, or to view a comprehensive list of worldwide distributors,
visit www.vicon.com or contact +44 (0)
1865-261800 in the UK or (949) 472-9140 in the US.


Virtual Soldier Research (VSR) Program
Center for Computer Aided Design
THE UNIVERSITY OF IOWA
Iowa City, IA. 52242
Tel: (319) 335-5722
Fax: (319) 384-0542
vsr@ccad.uiowa.edu
www.engineering.uiowa.edu/~amalek/VSR