Date: Jul 24, 1997 Source: PR Newswire (
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PALO ALTO, Calif., July 24 /PRNewswire/ -- Virtual Technologies, Inc., creator of the award-winning CyberGlove(R) instrumented glove, announced today the world premiere of the CyberSuit(TM) wireless full-body motion capture suit.
Originally developed for NASA, the CyberSuit will be introduced at SIGGRAPH 97, the computer graphics conference and exhibition being held August3-8, 1997, in Los Angeles, California. Demonstrations will be conducted at Virtual Technologies' booth (#569) and the SoftImage booth (#605) during regular exhibit hours from August 5-7.
Predicated largely upon the technological innovations introduced in theCyberGlove, the CyberSuit is a wireless full-body motion-capture system employing Virtual Technologies' patented sensing technology to measure the movement of the human body.
"The CyberSuit represents the technological breakthrough that our customers have been demanding," according to Dr. James F. Kramer, President and Founder of Virtual Technologies, Inc..
Developed under NASA contract to monitor the biomechanics of astronauts on space missions, the CyberSuit records the positions of the ankles, knees, hips, back, neck, shoulders, elbows, forearms, wrists and hands. The joint sensors are low profile and unencumbering, allowing fluid, natural movements and a wide range of dynamic activity.
During operation, the CyberSuit is fully untethered, requires no external reference sensors, has no line-of-sight limitations, and is unaffected by the presence of metallic objects in the surrounding environment. A moving graphical body model may be displayed in real-time, which allows for "on-the-fly" generation of computerized imagery synchronized to the movements of a human performer.
"Because we serve a diverse customer base that includes not only NASA and the military, but also leading universities, research labs and Hollywood studios, we are aware of the shortcomings of other methods of motion capture," added Dr. Kramer. "The CyberSuit offers a number of distinct advantages to alternative motion capture systems, and provides the sort of 'cutting edge' technological advancement that Virtual Technologies' customers have come to expect."
Virtual Technologies, Inc.: Corporate Overview and Products
From its genesis in the research labs of Stanford University during the mid-1980s and its subsequent incorporation in 1990, Virtual Technologies, Inc. has evolved into a recognized leader within the realm of body-sensing and haptic feedback. Its flagship product, the CyberGlove, is a fully instrumented glove that provides up to 22 high-accuracy joint measurements.
Employing Virtual Technologies' proprietary resistive bend-sensing technology that accurately transforms hand and finger movements into computer generated data and imagery, the CyberGlove has been used within a wide variety of applications, including virtual reality training and simulation, telerobotic control, sign language/gesture recognition and performance motion capture.
From corporate, governmental, medical and university research labs around the world, to Hollywood studios and special effects companies, the CyberGlove has become the de facto standard for high-performance hand measurement and real-time motion capture.
Building upon the success of the CyberGlove, Virtual Technologies, Inc. has expanded into the realm of haptic feedback with the development of systems that allow users to literally 'feel' computer-generated objects. With the introduction of products such as the award-winning CyberTouch(TM) vibro-tactile feedback option for the CyberGlove, and the pending introduction at SIGGRAPH 97 of the CyberGrasp(TM) force-feedback system, users are able to perceive various physical sensations from the computer-generated objects they manipulate in a "virtual world."
With the CyberGrasp system, grasp-resisting forces can be programmed to prevent the user's fingers from penetrating or crushing a virtual object. Through such innovations, Virtual Technologies, Inc. has solidified its position as one of the leading developers of integrated body-sensing and haptic feedback devices.
SOURCE Virtual Technologies Inc.
