VICON STANDARD
to support and enhance the training programme of the Welsh Rugby team. For all of our projects, the robustness and precision of the virtual world is paramount.
Rugby throwing project at VEC. Image courtesy of Joss Petit
BY IAIN CANT
Project Engineer - Digital Design and Visualisation
Working in partnership with leading manufacturers and technology partners, the Virtual Engineering Centre (VEC) pioneers new technologies and transforms emergent research from academia, to deliver ‘best in class’ solutions that support business growth. One such technology partner is world-leading Virtual Reality and Advanced Visualisation company, Virtalis. Julian Ford, Business Development Manager at Virtalis commented, “In 2008, the University of Liverpool approached Virtalis with a brief to develop, install and maintain the infrastructure for an immersive Visualisation Virtual Laboratory as part of its new VEC initiative. With already well-established links, we were keen to ensure that the system was both realistic and intuitive to use. It was essential that the solution we provided to the VEC incorporated leading edge technologies, while the system architecture allowed for scalability with a high degree of ‘future-proofing’. “The specification of the 6-DOF real-time tracking system was particularly important to the VEC. Absolute accuracy and low latency were critical factors for consideration to meet the requirements of their engineering clients. We initially installed a Vicon tracking system comprising 12 Bonita Infrared cameras, the data from which is collated and disseminated by Vicon’s ‘Tracker’ software. The cameras were strategically located around the periphery of and in front of the six meter wide screen, to the rear of which are located two, Christie Digital stereoscopic Mirage projectors, the images from which are blended to create one large, contiguous high resolution, high brightness image. Together, with two tracked users wearing NVIS ST50 head-mounted
displays, the visualization system supports real-time interactive collaborative VR sessions between multiple users.
In supporting the rugby practice simulation, we created a virtual Millennium Stadium where a player was immersed in a virtual environment and tasked with ‘throwing’ a physical rugby ball towards a virtual target. The Vicon Bonita system tracked the ball at a frequency of 240 Hz. The ability to allow the player to visualize the scenario from different viewpoints while providing pin-point accurate data about the position and orientation of the ball, was an essential requirement of the client’s that the system managed with ease.
“We have upgraded the system twice within its three-and-a-half year life since installation in the summer of 2010, two years after its original conception. Recently, this included the addition of four Bonita cameras and a software upgrade to Tracker 2.0, providing an extremely robust tracking volume, essential for the VEC’s virtual and augmented reality applications.”
Ford commented, “The VEC frequently informs me of the importance of their ability to create both realistic and intuitive virtual environments, if they are to be credible to the users and adopted into an organization’s ‘standard’ processes and workflow. They attribute much of this to the performance and robustness of the Vicon Bonita system, which facilitates intuitive, virtually latency free interaction.”
Virtalis’s Visionary Render software toolkit, a relatively recent enhancement to the system, also permits real-time immersive collaboration between disparate VR systems. We expect to be carrying out more sessions of this nature, removing the necessity for all parties to travel to a single venue in order to partake in a design review, for example.
The proven quality and reliability of the existing Vicon tracking system has resulted in the VEC team replicating the installation for our new Robotics Autonomy Simulation Laboratory (RASL). RASL will provide a networked, fully tracked simulation and visualization facility that bridges the gap between advanced robotics in the laboratory and the real world.
The VEC’s multi-disciplinary team includes expertise across autonomous and intelligent systems, digital design and manufacturing, and engineering reliability; however, it is the unique method of the application of advanced modeling, simulation and visualization that sets us apart. We create bespoke Virtual Reality laboratories, which allow our clients to explore their designs and understand the environments in which their teams are working. The role of the VEC is to enhance an organization’s capability to address their industry challenges, for example; the requirement to change the aerodynamic characteristics of a truck in order to improve its efficiency and reduce emissions or improve the design of an aeroplane wing through understanding the ergonomic considerations required for ease of access for maintenance.
After careful evaluation of other available tracking technologies coupled with the confidence we have gained over the last three years delivering successful projects, it was a straightforward decision for the VEC to continue working with the Vicon technology, once again, sourced from and supported by Virtalis.
The proven quality and reliability of the existing Vicon tracking system has resulted in the VEC team replicating the installation for our new Robotics Autonomy Simulation Laboratory (RASL).
The VEC’s projects are challenging and as diverse as supporting the design and manufacture of the next Bentley car model within reduced development timescales, to evaluating the use of virtual environments 35