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New press release from Vicon today, announcing three new products they’ll be demonstrating on the floor of SIGGRAPH next week.. First off is their new Blade2 software (shown to the right) that offers real-time motion capture with a new engine called “Axiom” that can handle multiple characters in realtime.  Also, they’ll be demonstration two new tools : A handheld interaction device, and a new head-mounted facial tracking system named “Cara”.

Imogen Moorhouse, COO at Vicon says, “The product line-up we’re showing at Siggraph this year is the result of years of research and development. Feedback from customers during our Alpha project for Blade has been invaluable to developing a product that, we think, will set a new industry standard for real time motion capture.”

Get all the details after the break, or at Booth #729 next week.

Vicon to showcase three highly anticipated products at SIGGRAPH 2012
Blade 2, a new Interaction Device and Cara Demos Available at Booth #729

Oxford, UK (August 1, 2012) — Vicon, developer of motion capture systems for the Entertainment, Engineering and Life Science markets, will be showcasing several new products during the Siggraph conference next week in Los Angeles, Calif. Products include the highly anticipated Blade 2 motion capture processing software and the ‘Mobile Mocap’ concept previewed at Siggraph 2011 dubbed ‘Cara’ and a new Interaction Device for navigating immersive environments.

Blade has been completely re-engineered with a focus on real-time motion capture workflows. Blade 2, powered by a new real-time engine called Axiom, captures performances effortlessly and delivers robust, reliable data that drives creativity. Axiom faithfully reproduces performances with fast, clean, real-time visualization. It is capable of effortlessly managing multiple characters, complex situations and difficult production conditions.

Since last year, Vicon’s Blade Alpha program has had some fantastic results. Ben Guthrie, Motion Capture Supervisor at Framestore, has been using Blade 2 since October 2011. “What we’re doing with Blade 2 is ideal for previz. We now have more clients that are not interested in any post processed work, simply because it’s so easy to get the raw mocap data – we’re literally delivering data to the client before they get back to their desk. I’d pitch Blade 2 against any other system on the market – the real time is awesome.”

For the virtual reality market, Vicon will be showcasing a new Interaction Device – a precise, robust hand-held tracking tool. Its ergonomic design and flexible controls enable intuitive interaction with virtual objects in any 3D environment. Unlike other tools available for use in virtual environments, the Interaction Device provides haptic vibration feedback for model collision warning and object identification.

Warren Lester, Engineering Product Manager at Vicon, explained, “We’re very pleased to launch the Interaction Device at Siggraph this year. As the demo on our booth will show, it has been designed to reliably track with two Bonita cameras or the largest Vicon T-Series system. The dodecahedron design gives the Vicon cameras an optimal view of the device, which means, given the same space, it can be tracked over a much larger area than any other interaction tool.”

The final product on display will be the head mounted facial capture system, Cara – the first commercialized product from the ‘Mobile Mocap’ concept seen at Siggraph 2011. Visitors to the Vicon booth on Wednesday and Thursday will get the opportunity to see a live demo of Cara and try it out for themselves.

Imogen Moorhouse, COO at Vicon says, “The product line-up we’re showing at Siggraph this year is the result of years of research and development. Feedback from customers during our Alpha project for Blade has been invaluable to developing a product that, we think, will set a new industry standard for real time motion capture.”

Visit Vicon at booth #729 during Siggraph at the Los Angeles Convention Center from Tuesday 7th – Thursday 9th August 2012.

About Vicon
Academy Award®-winning Vicon is the world’s largest supplier of precision motion tracking systems, and match moving software. It serves customers in the CG animation industry, film, visual effects, computer games, and broadcast television, as well as engineering and life science industries.

Vicon is a subsidiary of OMG (Oxford Metrics Group – LSE: OMG), plc., a group of technology companies that produces image understanding solutions for the Entertainment, Defence, Life Science and Engineering markets. Other holdings include: 2d3, a manufacturer of specialised image understanding software for defence applications; Yotta DCL our highways surveying business in the UK; and OMG Life, our new consumer subsidiary.

Vicon and OMG global clients include: Life Science leaders University of Pennsylvania, the VA Hospitals, Shriners Hospitals for Children, Titleist Golf, The Andrews Institute; Engineering industry leaders Ford, BMW, Airbus, Lockheed, Pratt-Whitney, NASA, Caterpillar, International Truck, and Toyota; and Entertainment companies Sony Pictures Imageworks, Sony Computer Entertainment, Industrial Light and Magic, Sega, Nintendo, Ubisoft, Vivendi, Electronic Arts, Square Enix and many others.

For more information about OMG and its subsidiaries, visit: www.omgplc.comwww.vicon.com,www.vicon.com/boujouwww.moves.comwww.2d3.comwww.yottadcl.com, or www.viconrevue.com.

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Vicon is a trademark of OMG plc. Academy Award is a trade or servicemark of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.