In this episode, we discuss how a wearable based sensing platform developed by MIT can provide detailed information about a user’s muscle activity and enable virtual physical therapy to increase access for this vital practice. &nbsp;<iframe height="200px" width="100%" frameborder="no" scrolling="no" seamless="" src="https://player.simplecast.com/225fb133-bd97-4e96-b79b-11bfc3ae2fcd?dark=false" class="fr-draggable" data-lf-form-tracking-inspected-kn9eq4roawkarlvp="true" data-lf-yt-playback-inspected-kn9eq4roawkarlvp="true" data-lf-vimeo-playback-inspected-kn9eq4roawkarlvp="true"></iframe><hr>This podcast is sponsored by <a href="https://www2.mouser.com/" id="isPasted" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Mouser Electronics</a>. &nbsp;<img src="https://images.wevolver.com/eyJidWNrZXQiOiJ3ZXZvbHZlci1wcm9qZWN0LWltYWdlcyIsImtleSI6ImZyb2FsYS8xNjY2MTcxMjQ1MDkwLU1vdXNlci1zcG9uc29yLTEtYS5qcGciLCJlZGl0cyI6eyJyZXNpemUiOnsid2lkdGgiOjk1MCwiZml0IjoiY292ZXIifX19" style="width: 766px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib"><hr><h3 id="isPasted">EPISODE NOTES</h3>(3:00) - MIT System "sees" The Inner Structure of The Body During Physical RehabEpisode 92 was brought to you by Mouser Electronics, Farbod &amp; Daniel’s favorite electronics distributor. Click <a href="https://resources.mouser.com/monitoring/remote-health-monitoring" target="_blank">here</a> to read about the Mouser technical resource discussing neural networks!<hr>As always, you can find these and other interesting &amp; impactful engineering articles on Wevolver.com.To learn more about this show, please visit our<a href="https://www.wevolver.com/profile/the.next.byte" target="_blank">&nbsp;shows page</a>. By following the page, you will get automatic updates by email when a new show is published. Be sure to give us a follow and review on<a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/nl/podcast/the-next-byte/id1548255861?l=en" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">&nbsp;Apple&nbsp;</a>podcasts,<a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/6lPPsRtegnivsRUEsQ09R7?si=IPMiah7xT_apJtPjqvXMlA" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">&nbsp;Spotify</a>, and most of your favorite podcast platforms!

MuscleRehab is a system that uses electrical impedance tomography and optical motion tracking for visualizing muscle engagement and motion data during unsupervised physical rehabilitation. Image courtesy of MIT CSAIL.

In this episode, we discuss how a wearable based sensing platform developed by MIT can provide detailed information about a user’s muscle activity and enable virtual physical therapy to increase access for this vital practice. 

Podcast: Virtual Physical Therapy

<h2 id="isPasted">What is a Motion Sensor?</h2>A motion sensor or passive infrared (PIR) sensor is an electronic device that detects the movement of an object, anywhere within its field of view, by measuring the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infrared" target="_blank">infrared</a> (IR) light emitted from, or reflected by, that object.Motion sensors detect the presence of people in a room and are usually used to understand where and when the space in a building is used.&nbsp;<img src="https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/wevolver-project-images/froala%2F1658322286552-iStock-1225575965.jpg" style="width: 766px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">Equipped with these insights, building and workplace managers can understand and predict space utilization inside buildings. They can also adjust heating, cooling, and other services accordingly to save energy and optimize building use.<h2>How does a Motion Sensor work?</h2><img src="https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/wevolver-project-images/froala%2F1658322331478-PIR-ceiling-walking+1.png" style="width: 766px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">Motion sensors typically detect movement using a <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/engineering/pyroelectric-sensor" target="_blank">pyroelectric sensor</a>, a device that has two photoactive diode areas, to convert infrared light emanating from an object into an electrical charge.With a pair of pyroelectric sensors&nbsp;located next to each other, any changes in the signal differential between the two sensors (caused, for example, by a person entering a room) will cause the motion sensor itself to activate.This physical design, with a total of four photoactive diode areas, minimizes the number of possible false alarms that can be generated and improves both the accuracy and performance of the device.State-of-the-art motion sensors provide support for internet connectivity and can be flexibly integrated into the Internet of Things (IoT) software. This facilitates the integration of occupancy measurements with the output of other sensors (e.g. temperature sensors) and boosts building intelligence and management.<h2>The Disruptive Technologies Wireless Motion Sensor</h2><img src="https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/wevolver-project-images/froala%2F1658322358703-PIRwith+logo_.png" style="width: 766px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">Our customers deploy our sensors to manage their buildings and offices. Beyond desk occupancy data, there is a need to collect and use room occupancy data for buildings, meeting rooms, and other office areas as part of Smart Building management initiatives.&nbsp;We make use of quad-element technology for our recently launched compact <a href="https://www.disruptive-technologies.com/products/wireless-pir-ceiling-sensor" target="_blank">Wireless Motion Sensor</a>. The Wireless Motion Sensor is usually mounted on the ceiling and has a detection range of up to 14 meters (46 feet) with a 360&deg; field of view.The Wireless Motion Sensor builds on DT&rsquo;s core, market-leading sensor features, including:<ul><li>Long wireless range:<ul><li>100 m (330 ft) in a typical indoor environment</li><li>2 km (6600 ft) line-of-sight</li></ul></li><li>10-year battery life (using two replaceable AA batteries)</li><li>Full compatibility with the <a href="https://www.disruptive-technologies.com/products/cloud-connector" target="_blank">Cloud Connector</a>, which securely relays monitored data, using &nbsp;<a href="https://www.disruptive-technologies.com/blog/security-and-privacy-in-disruptive-technologies-sensing-solution" target="_blank">SecureDataShot&trade;</a> technology, into the Cloud for data processing</li></ul><h2>What are the benefits of using a Motion Sensor?&nbsp;</h2>Motion sensors have traditionally been used, and integrated into, either automatic lighting solutions or alarm systems.&nbsp;However, as previously mentioned, DT has received some requests from its customers for the collection and use of occupancy data from rooms or buildings.<img src="https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/wevolver-project-images/froala%2F1658322397213-Screenshot+2022-07-18+at+15.44.14.png" style="width: 766px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">Motion sensor connected to DT Studio &nbsp;<h3 id="isPasted">Motion Sensors and Room Occupancy</h3>As a result of changes in working patterns and increasing real estate prices, measuring room occupancy is becoming a critical requirement for many organizations.&nbsp;The effects of measuring room occupancy can be split into three main categories:<ul><li>Efficient resource allocation<ul><li>Which offices or locations are over/underutilized?&nbsp;</li><li>Removing the need to physically check a room for occupation or not</li></ul></li><li>Comfort for tenants and workers<ul><li><a href="https://www.disruptive-technologies.com/blog/spaces-optimized-office-layout-sensor-technology" target="_blank">Optimizing space design</a> for employees based on actual occupancy</li><li>Minimizing the time spent searching for available spaces while avoiding double bookings.&nbsp;</li><li>Are meeting rooms being booked and not used or being reserved for too long?</li></ul></li><li>Cost savings<ul><li>Are 5 meeting rooms needed?</li><li>Should investment be made in a new co-working space?</li></ul></li></ul>Placing Wireless Motion Sensors in all relevant locations will enable a company to have real-time, up-to-date, and accurate data about the occupancy of those areas.&nbsp;With this information, an organization can make adjustments to both the actual space that they have and the way that it is used, both in the short term and in the longer term. The benefits of having this data therefore include:<ol><li>Maximizing space utilization</li><li>Improving employee efficiency by eliminating their time wastage when looking for an available room</li><li>Removing employee frustration about lack of available office space or meeting rooms</li><li>Saving costs by eliminating underused areas</li></ol><h3>Motion Sensors and Room Occupancy</h3>Data from the Wireless Motion Sensors can be analyzed to track how frequently restrooms, desks, and meeting rooms are used and to then determine if and when&nbsp;cleaning&nbsp;is required.Using information collected from the sensors an organization can identify how many visits to a specific location trigger a need for cleaning.As a result cleaning schedules can be tailored appropriately to deliver the following benefits:<ol><li>reduce labor costs by eliminating unnecessary cleaning</li><li>repurpose cleaners to perform other vital jobs</li><li>save energy by not using lighting or equipment when cleaning unnecessarily</li><li>provide accurate data for measuring performance against cleaning contracts</li></ol><img src="https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/wevolver-project-images/froala%2F1658322436867-Screenshot+2022-07-18+at+15.52.10.png" style="width: 765px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">DT Studio showing room occupancy data.&nbsp;&nbsp;<h2 id="isPasted">Bottomline</h2>The Wireless Motion Sensor is an easy-to-install device that compliments and operates with other sensor types from DT.Using state-of-the-art technology the device can provide accurate and up-to-date information about space utilization in any office location.This information is critical for Facilities Management to enable them to maximize room utilization. Employee frustrations from not being able to locate a free room or meeting space are minimized and costs can be saved.Collecting data over time also allows an organization to understand usage patterns and determine correct cleaning schedules. This leads to improved cleaning quality, efficiency, and employee productivity.With the launch of the Wireless Motion Sensor Disruptive Technologies now has a comprehensive set of sensors, all using the Cloud Connector and a common data store. These cover all common customer requirements for data monitoring and collection within their work environment.

A motion sensor or passive infrared (PIR) sensor is an electronic device that detects the movement of an object, anywhere within its field of view, by measuring the infrared (IR) light emitted from, or reflected by, that object.

What is a Motion Sensor and How Does it Work

<h3 id="isPasted">How Jota Sport accelerated pit stop crew performance with sports data science, Xsens Motion Capture and avatars</h3><a href="http://jotasport.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Jota Sport</a>, the British sports car racing division of the Jota Group, was founded in 2000, originally as &lsquo;Team Jota&rsquo;, by a university student in material engineering, Sam Hignett, and racing driver John Stack. &nbsp;The team has celebrated 8 podium finishes at 24hrs Le Mans and their latest series includes the 24 Hours of Le Mans, FIA World Endurance Championship, Blancpain Endurance Series, Spa 24 Hours, and the Intercontinental GT Challenge.<img src="https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/wevolver-project-images/froala%2F1653451253820-jota+3.jpg" style="width: 300px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">We spoke to Cassandra McColl, Jota Sport&rsquo;s pit stop performance coach about harnessing Xsens <a href="https://www.xsens.com/motion-capture" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">motion capture technology</a> to accelerate the team&rsquo;s performance. With every second counting in the pit stop, her role is pivotal in driving Jota Sport ahead of competitors in the next series.The crew members typically consider themselves mechanics first, but they are, equally importantly, athletes. In the few seconds of a pit stop, there can be a high level of physicality to their work - how they move around the car, their speed and mobility - &nbsp;the crucial timing of which can win or lose a race. Having used motion capture technology to aid sports performance in previous roles with universities, McColl was keen to employ the same methodology to improve the mechanics&rsquo; movements. The pit stop crew team often incurred chronic elbow and knee injuries affecting their performance and confidence.&nbsp;Whilst McColl was familiar with motion capture technology, the pit stop crew needed to be able to use the tech intuitively. Timing isn&rsquo;t just crucial in the race; it&rsquo;s crucial in training where schedules are tight, leaving little room for added training around performance technology.&nbsp;&ldquo;Xsens technology is not invasive for the athletes to wear, it&#39;s only sensors attached to their bodies that do not restrict movement.&rdquo; The crew readily engaged with the tech, not only appreciating the immediate impact on their performance, but enjoying the process of seeing themselves as avatars on a screen through Xsens&rsquo; interface. &ldquo;The team could playback their recorded movements in Xsens and understand how they should be moving. The crew felt a deepened sense of awareness with their bodies, a credit to the feature of Xsen&rsquo;s technology being able to create what felt like &lsquo;a real live-action video&rsquo; explained McColl.<img src="https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/wevolver-project-images/froala%2F1653451311653-jota+4.jpeg" style="width: 300px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">With auto technology often taking center stage in motorsports, McColl put sports science on the podium with motion capture data analysis. &ldquo;With the Xsens software, I could perform a gait analysis to understand the crew&rsquo;s bodies and their existing physical traits. I also performed a needs analysis, checking basic movements like a basic squat or a chest press. We applied the sensors on the team members, the data from which helped to understand their movements, which we took into account for sports-specific tasks.&rdquo; Working on the analytics using the Xsens software meant that the data collected would be objective, with every movement captured and the relevant data recorded.&nbsp;&ldquo;Accuracy is key to everything we do in Motor Sport,&rdquo; McColl reiterates, &ldquo;which is why Xsens&rsquo; HD Reprocessing is as important. I know that the data is at the optimal level of processing. &nbsp;The human movements it&rsquo;s showing me through the interface are as accurate as I&rsquo;m ever going to see. Xsens&rsquo; live engine records data in real-time, with the HD reprocessing in <a href="https://www.xsens.com/products/mvn-analyze" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Xsens&rsquo; MVN software</a> converting that data into AAA quality data.&rdquo;&nbsp;McColl could see where movements in training predisposed some of the pit stop crew to injuries or mobility issues compared to the moves that positively impacted the team. &ldquo;Perhaps surprisingly, very few people who have spent their time perfecting a specific movement over and over have the kinaesthetic awareness to know &ldquo;my foot placement was wrong and slowed me down.&quot; The crew is feeling empowered. The technology has motivated them to focus on improving their movements.&rdquo;McColl explains that a second challenge in analyzing the pit stop crew&#39;s movements is the changeability of roles in the team, with mechanics moving from role to role each season. For example, a wheel loader can also perform as a gunman, a task that requires a different set of physical skills: &nbsp;&ldquo;We have some wheel loaders that are over six feet tall and some wheel loaders that are only 5&#39;6&rdquo;. We have very different body types within the team. We had to tweak the techniques to the specific body size of each crew member.&rdquo; As a result of the data, McColl has changed the team&#39;s training regimen, creating adaptations to improve each member of the crew&#39;s performance.&nbsp;<img src="https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/wevolver-project-images/froala%2F1653451365731-jota+2.jpg" style="width: 300px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib"><h3 id="isPasted">A tech partnership that slots into the team</h3>The team has used the data and the new techniques to make gradual changes to their training. Having honed in on their movements during their working day, they stand in better stead for their next races. &ldquo;With all of the data we are getting, we are starting further ahead this year. We are not going back down to 15 seconds. We have been able to shave off valuable seconds from our pit stop timing using Xsens motion capture technology, with <a href="https://www.xsens.com/products/mvn-analyze" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">MVN Software</a>&rdquo;.&nbsp;Jota Sport considers Xsens technology as crucial to these developments in the team. The technology has helped to increase the performance speed of the pit stop crew, ultimately improving the outcome of races at Jota Sport.&nbsp;Jota Sport will also be using Kinduct&rsquo;s platform in 2022 to continue optimizing the team&#39;s athletic health and performance. &nbsp;The team look forward to their first race in America in March 2022.&nbsp;

with Xsens

Jota Sport's Pit Stop Crew Puts Pedal to the Floor

An interview with Professor Keizo Yamamoto of Hokusho University, Professor Makoto Tsubokura of Kobe University/RIKEN, coach to Olympic gold medallist ski jumper Ryōyū KobayashiAt the highest level of sports, it&rsquo;s often the smallest details that separates the winners from the runners up. Athletes and the teams around them dedicate hundreds, if not thousands, of hours preparing to compete: researching the best ways to change their diet, routine and performance in the hope it will give them the edge over their opponent. Advancements in biohacking mean that athletes are no longer competing against one another, but also against coaches, data scientists and research teams who are constantly on the lookout for the latest tools they can use to enhance their athletes&rsquo; performance.In the case of helping Ryōyū Kobayashi in the 2022 Winter Olympics, Professor Keizo Yamamoto of Hokusho University turned to motion capture technology. The tech-first strategy ultimately proved a success, with Ryōyū Kobayashi picking up the gold medal in the men&#39;s normal hill individual ski jumping final.We spoke to professor Keizo Yamamoto about how he used motion capture as part of the research process, why he chose Xsens, and how the technology could be used in other sports in the near future.<h3>It takes an Olympic village&hellip;</h3>Professor Keizo Yamamoto of Hokusho University is well versed in analyzing the movements of athletes. As well as specialising in kinematics at the university&rsquo;s Faculty of Lifelong Sports, professor Yamamoto has worked closely with athletes at the Japanese Olympic Committee.<img src="https://images.wevolver.com/eyJidWNrZXQiOiJ3ZXZvbHZlci1wcm9qZWN0LWltYWdlcyIsImtleSI6ImZyb2FsYS8xNjUyMTcyNTgwMDg4LVJ5b3l1IEtvYmF5YXNoaS0xLmpwZyIsImVkaXRzIjp7InJlc2l6ZSI6eyJ3aWR0aCI6OTUwLCJmaXQiOiJjb3ZlciJ9fX0=" style="width: 300px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">&ldquo;Since 2008, I have been supporting athletes at the National Training Center (NTC) in Sapporo, Japan, as a scientific staff member of the Ski Jumping Training Center. In addition to physical training, NTC provides a wide range of support to athletes, including performance evaluation, nutritional guidance, as well as medical and psychological support from medical doctors. I am in charge of performance evaluation, which involves assessing posture and movement from a biomechanical perspective.&rdquo;With the 2022 Winter Olympics on the horizon, Professor Yamamoto and his team looked for ways they could capture the athlete&rsquo;s high performance, and use that data to improve the performance of the whole team. In 2019, they first decided to use motion capture, and Ryōyū Kobayashi was the ideal research candidate. Coming off the back of the 2018/19 FIS Ski Jumping World Cup, Ryōyū Kobayashi had picked up a total of six trophies, including the top prize of overall winner. Kobayashi was one of the favorites at the forthcoming 2022 Winter Olympics, which is why professor Yamamoto was keen to analyze his performance, and help Kobayashi take him to the next level.&ldquo;Ryoyu Kobayashi won the overall World Cup title in the 2018/19 season. We asked him to help us analyze the performance of the world&#39;s top athletes, as we thought it would be a useful resource for coaches and other athletes. He graciously agreed.&rdquo;Ski jumping is a unique sport in that athletes are only able to practice flying a limited number of days a year, due its relation to specific weather conditions, and the impact that the movements can have on the athletes. With motion capture data, the athletes and coaches would have access to a rendering of the performance. Essentially, they could replay the jump in full without having to worry about waiting for snow, or causing stress on an athlete.Professor Yamamoto needed motion capture technology that was robust enough to capture the complexities of the jumper&rsquo;s movement,and also lightweight enough to not interfere with their performance. For this, they turned to Xsens.<h3>Research in motion - avoiding the observer effect with the right mocap tech</h3>An excellent performance is often attributed to an athlete&#39;s ability to remain in a positive mental state, in which they are entirely connected to, and feel in control of, their performance. In the ESPN documentary series &lsquo;The Last Dance&rsquo;, Mark Vancil, author of &ldquo;Rare Air,&rdquo; discusses Michael Jordan&rsquo;s psyche: &ldquo;He was never anywhere else&hellip; his gift was not that he could jump high, run fast, or shoot a basketball. His gift was that he was completely present. And that was the separator.&rdquo; Similarly, it was paramount that Kobayashi could remain mindful of his movement, not the mocap suit he was wearing, and it was the wearability - as well as the accuracy of Xsens&rsquo; data- that led to Professor Yamamoto opting for the technology. Kobayashi&rsquo;s recorded jump would be the standard by which the NTC would measure other ski jumpers; it was essential that he was able to perform in his natural state.<img src="https://images.wevolver.com/eyJidWNrZXQiOiJ3ZXZvbHZlci1wcm9qZWN0LWltYWdlcyIsImtleSI6ImZyb2FsYS8xNjUyMTcyNjUxMDc2LVJ5b3l1IEtvYmF5YXNoaS0zIGN1dC5KUEciLCJlZGl0cyI6eyJyZXNpemUiOnsid2lkdGgiOjk1MCwiZml0IjoiY292ZXIifX19" style="width: 300px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">&ldquo;The art of the millisecond is an omnipresent factor in ski jumping.&rdquo; Professor Yamamoto explains &ldquo;Airflow and aerodynamic forces can be greatly affected by even the slightest change in posture. The purpose of our research is aerodynamic analysis. We needed a system that could measure the athlete&rsquo;s posture with high precision. We chose Xsens because of its accuracy and the overall weight and size of the system.&rdquo;Athletic gear at the highest level is designed with advanced technology: from technical materials to grams of weight, these differential factors aren&rsquo;t just costly to training budgets, they can cost micro measurements in performance. It was imperative, therefore, that the mocap gear could work adaptively to the athlete&rsquo;s high tech suit. &ldquo;We were looking for a chip based, Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) sensor type mocap system for years because ski jumpers wear suits, so bulky marker-based mocap suits that are traditionally used for movies would prove difficult for the jumpers&rdquo;.Ski jumpers are required to wear a skin-tight suit, with jumpers in the past being disqualified for wearing a suit that fails to have &ldquo;<a href="https://www.nbcolympics.com/news/ski-jumping-101-equipment" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">sufficient air permeability</a>&rdquo;. The <a href="https://www.xsens.com/products/mvn-analyze" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">MVN Link</a> suit that Ryōyū Kobayashi wore for the trail jump closely resembles the ski jumping suit that he would wear in competition, and meant that there wouldn&rsquo;t be any extra weight that the research had to account for, or change how Ryōyū Kobayashi would approach the jump. Professor Yamamoto shares, &ldquo;so marker based mocaps are difficult. We considered various manufacturers, then chose Xsens MVN for the reason that it can accurately measure the posture of the jumper and the ski-boards. Athletes must wear the device and jump - so high, that we refer to it as flying! We needed a system that is as light in weight and small in size as possible. Xsens met all these requirements.&rdquo;<img src="https://images.wevolver.com/eyJidWNrZXQiOiJ3ZXZvbHZlci1wcm9qZWN0LWltYWdlcyIsImtleSI6ImZyb2FsYS8xNjUyMTcyNzM2MjcwLVJ5b3l1IEtvYmF5YXNoaS01LnBuZyIsImVkaXRzIjp7InJlc2l6ZSI6eyJ3aWR0aCI6OTUwLCJmaXQiOiJjb3ZlciJ9fX0=" style="width: 300px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">Even once Ryōyū Kobayashi was comfortable with the Xsens suit, there were other conditions that threatened to impact the research jump, professor Yamamoto explained: &ldquo;It was difficult to coordinate the measurement schedules of the athletes and staff. Ryōyū Kobayashi&#39;s schedule was always full, so we gave top priority to his schedule. We also had our fingers crossed for the weather, as we have had to cancel measurements in the past due to wind or rain. No one can control the weather. Fortunately, the weather was fine, and we were able to make the measurements without any incident.&rdquo;<h3>Research findings</h3>With the Xsens suit on, they were able to continuously record the movements of Kobayashi. From this, Professor Yamamoto converted his movements into data, which was then transformed into a 3D rendering that was analysed through Fugaku, the world&#39;s fastest supercomputer.With the data recorded, Professor Yamamoto and his team then set about identifying the key takeaways from the jump.<iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/GB7XYRWnUq4?&wmode=opaque&rel=0&enablejsapi=1&origin=https://www.wevolver.com" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable" data-lf-yt-playback-inspected-kn9eq4roawkarlvp="true"></iframe>&ldquo;After performing an aerodynamic analysis of the time-varying jumper posture, we identified the aerodynamic characteristics that were seen across top athletes. By clarifying the fluid characteristics during a series of jumping motions, it is possible to objectively explore the critical aspects of performance. Two athletes participated in this project, so we were able to analyze jumps of different forms.&rdquo;Motion capture data allowed the team to look at detailed air movement, and were then better able to point out the unique movement patterns that set Kobayashi apart: &ldquo;I was surprised to find that the lift-drag ratio rapidly increases immediately after takeoff&rdquo;, exclaimed Professor Yamamoto. &ldquo;Lift-drag ratio is an indicator of flight performance in ski jumping. It is important for performance to form an aerodynamically advantageous flight posture as early as possible.&rdquo;<img src="https://images.wevolver.com/eyJidWNrZXQiOiJ3ZXZvbHZlci1wcm9qZWN0LWltYWdlcyIsImtleSI6ImZyb2FsYS8xNjUyMTczMjMzNTc2LVJ5b3l1IEtvYmF5YXNoaSBDYXNlIFN0dWR5LnBuZyIsImVkaXRzIjp7InJlc2l6ZSI6eyJ3aWR0aCI6OTUwLCJmaXQiOiJjb3ZlciJ9fX0=" style="width: 300px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">2022 Hokusho Univ., Kobe Univ. and RIKENLift drag ratio rapidly increasing immediately after take-off; Kobayashi&rsquo;s movements meant he was able to decrease the impact of this pressure and therefore gain advantage over other athletesOnce they had summarized their findings, Professor Yamamoto presented the data to Kobayashi and other athletes.<h3>Future of skiing and beyond&hellip;</h3>Ski Jumping is a unique sport. Aerodynamic movements are at the core of this sport, so it can be challenging for an athlete to visualize what actions they need to take while in the air. However, with the help of motion capture, this is easier to understand, as Professor Yamamoto explains: &ldquo;Ski jumping is a flying sport. Therefore, it is essential to analyze aerodynamic characteristics in order to evaluate performance. By visualizing the invisible air flow and aerodynamic forces, it is possible to explain the data much easier to the athletes. I believe that this will facilitate communication between athletes and coaches and improve the quality of training.&rdquo;We&rsquo;ve seen <a href="https://www.xsens.com/cases/ikinesis-uses-xsens-technology-to-help-runners-prevent-injuries-in-real-time" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">runners</a>, <a href="https://www.xsens.com/cases/how-dewiz-enhances-golfing-performance-in-real-time" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">golfers</a> and <a href="https://www.xsens.com/cases/enhancing-the-performance-of-junior-pro-tennis-athletes-with-xsens-mvn-analyze" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">tennis players</a> alike use Xsens to enhance their performance, and Professor Yamamoto speculates that there could be further use in the near future. &ldquo;I think mocap research is definitely effective. It is less stressful on the athlete and allows the movement to be recorded in places where a video camera cannot. As for fluid analysis, this technology will be useful in sports where fluid forces dominate, such as swimming.&rdquo;Motion capture technology has opened up a new way of thinking about movement for coaches and athletes. Rather just thinking about how they should move, they can use technologies such MVN Analyze to study why they move the way they do. As Remco Sikkema Senior MarCom Manager at Movella, elaborates, &ldquo;An athlete&#39;s movements can be so individualized that it is difficult to generalize based on the data from one athelete. With that being said, there is great value in understanding your own capabilities and restrictions as an athlete. The use of motion capture in sport grows year on year, as athletes and coaches seek to understand their movements better than ever before.&rdquo;To learn more about Professor Yamamoto&rsquo;s research, visit the link here.

with Xsens MVN Analyze

How Hokusho University help Ryoyu Kobayashi win Olympic gold

<a href="https://www.ubisoft.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Ubisoft</a> Annecy delivered the ultimate winter sports game with 2016&rsquo;s Steep, a sublime simulation that recreated the wide-open slopes of the Alps that players could explore on skis or snowboards, or even by paragliding or soaring with a wingsuit. Whether you wanted a quiet solo jaunt down the side of a mountain or a raucous race against online rivals, it was all there.<img src="https://images.wevolver.com/eyJidWNrZXQiOiJ3ZXZvbHZlci1wcm9qZWN0LWltYWdlcyIsImtleSI6ImZyb2FsYS8xNjUxODA0ODIxNzA1LXN0YXJ0LTExLnBuZyIsImVkaXRzIjp7InJlc2l6ZSI6eyJ3aWR0aCI6OTUwLCJmaXQiOiJjb3ZlciJ9fX0=" style="width: 300px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">It was the first wholly original project from Ubisoft Annecy, the global publisher&rsquo;s French studio, and after shipping extensive add-on content, including collaborations with the 2018 Winter Olympics and ESPN&rsquo;s X Games, the team turned its attention towards the next big thing.This next big thing is&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ubisoft.com/en-gb/game/riders-republic" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Riders Republic</a>, a multi-disciplinary sports sandbox game that features skis, snowboards, snowmobiles alongside wingsuit, and mountain biking in a vast world that mashes up various American landmarks, including Yosemite Valley and Grand Teton. It&rsquo;s also punched up with a lot more personality and flair and takes a massively multiplayer approach with dozens of players competing together at once.&nbsp;For the Riders Republic, Ubisoft Annecy wanted to tap into the latest technology to deliver precise and realistic-looking tricks and animations. That&rsquo;s why the studio turned to the <a href="https://www.xsens.com/products/mvn-animate" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Xsens MVN</a> inertial&nbsp;<a href="https://www.xsens.com/motion-capture" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">motion capture system</a>, with robust suits that could be easily transported to the slopes to capture professional athletes and translate that action into the game.&nbsp;<h3>Capturing the pros</h3>Ubisoft Annecy had previously worked with optical motion capture for indoor shoots, but camera-based systems aren&rsquo;t ideal when it comes to real-world and large-volume capture demands. When it was time to work with professional skiers and snowboarders on-location to capture tricks and actions for the Riders Republic, the studio turned to Xsens. The suit&rsquo;s durable sensors can work anywhere.&nbsp;<iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/xapNAdQcPVg?&wmode=opaque&rel=0&enablejsapi=1&origin=https://www.wevolver.com" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable" data-lf-yt-playback-inspected-kn9eq4roawkarlvp="true"></iframe>&quot;We started using Xsens in 2018 because we wanted another option. It&#39;s easier to use in specific conditions, like the sports we have in Riders Republic,&quot; explains Julien Beilles, Lead Animator at Ubisoft Annecy. &quot;The biggest point for us in using Xsens was being able to use it on the snow. That was the first time we used it for that. It&#39;s really hard to do optical motion capture on the snow, so we chose Xsens for that.&quot;&nbsp;Another reason Julien selected the Xsens suit for the job was the ability to set up and get ready to capture without needing to bring an additional team to manage technical support. There&rsquo;s significantly less fuss and setup with the Xsens MVN inertial motion capture suits, which the skiers and snowboarders could wear beneath their usual gear and perform unabated. Clean data can be captured anywhere, even using a laptop.&ldquo;It was quite easy, I would say,&rdquo; he explains. &ldquo;For optical capture, we used to have technical directors with us, and they are in charge of most of the technical stuff. With Xsens, we are able to go on a shoot without any TDs with us, and we ended up shooting by ourselves with a couple of animators. In the end, we managed to do what we wanted with a small team, so it went great.&rdquo;<img src="https://images.wevolver.com/eyJidWNrZXQiOiJ3ZXZvbHZlci1wcm9qZWN0LWltYWdlcyIsImtleSI6ImZyb2FsYS8xNjUxODA0OTc0NTY4LVJpZGVycyBSZXB1YmxpYyAyLnBuZyIsImVkaXRzIjp7InJlc2l6ZSI6eyJ3aWR0aCI6OTUwLCJmaXQiOiJjb3ZlciJ9fX0=" style="width: 300px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">Although Annecy has ample slopes to choose from, the team opted to shoot at a covered, real-snow, ski facility in Landgraaf in the Netherlands to ensure consistent conditions and access to electricity. It was a five-day shoot that included pro athletes, and while their availability was limited, the rapid setup and recording with the Xsens suits meant that no time was wasted as they captured every takeoff, landing, and rail trick they could.&ldquo;We shot pro athletes that had very limited time to offer in their schedule, so Xsens sounded like a better solution for us to go with,&rdquo; says Julien. &ldquo;In the end, I think we made the right choice.&rdquo;<h3>Just like real life</h3>Julien&#39;s team used the clean inertial motion capture data to translate the realistic dynamics of various tricks and movements and combine that with keyframing to input into the game&rsquo;s animation system. The Xsens suits not only helped deliver on the impressive realism of the real-world actions but also significantly cut down the amount of work that would&rsquo;ve been done if they had fully keyframed the animations.&ldquo;When capturing full rotations, Xsens was stellar,&rdquo; Julien affirms. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s a strong point of the system. We captured a lot of different rotations in the air: spins, flips, and combined rotations.&rdquo;Ubisoft Annecy continued to use the Xsens suits for other purposes in the game following that initial shoot, including prototyping animations for other activities and developing the fun emotes that players can have their characters perform. The studio has two suits that it turns to regularly, as they don&rsquo;t have to book a mocap session: the technology is always ready.<img src="https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/wevolver-project-images/froala%2F1651805676381-Riders+Republic+3.png" style="width: 300px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">&ldquo;One of the big advantages of Xsens for all of the shooting and prototyping we did is that you can hit record and let it roll, and you have all of the data,&rdquo; says Julien. &ldquo;For the shooting in Landgraaf, we were able to capture data across the whole snow park, and we were surprised because it was like 50 meters long or more. That was one of the big advantages. Xsens is also much faster to use for prototyping than some tools, and we use it a lot for that.&rdquo;Xsens is Ubisoft&rsquo;s global partner for inertial motion capture technology, and the durable MVN suits have been used at other Ubisoft studios across an array of blockbuster video game projects. Ubisoft Annecy plans to support Riders Republic extensively after its release, as it did with Steep.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s really useful to have Xsens in the studio when you don&rsquo;t have your own mocap studio,&rdquo; Julien concludes.

with Xsens MVN suits

Ubisoft hits the slopes for the Riders Republic

Last month one of our valued customers <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/sms.14158" target="_blank">published</a> the result of great research on hamstring fascicle behaviour and muscle forces in the Nordic hamstring curl (NHC), single-leg Roman chair (RCH), and single-leg deadlift (DL). The <a href="https://twitter.com/BasVanHooren/status/1506300340269985798" target="_blank">post on Twitter</a> of main author Bas van Hooren got 600+ likes within a few days, with great reactions from the global scientific sports science community. Reasons enough for us to have a chat about this successful publication.<figure><img src="https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/wevolver-project-images/froala%2F1650973750982-Bas+Van+Hooren+square.jpg" style="width: 300px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">Bas Van Hooren</figure><h3>Professional athlete and sports scientist</h3>Sports scientist Bas Van Hooren is currently doing PhD research at Maastricht University in the faculty of Health, Medicine and Life Sciences. His work is about hamstring injuries and performance enhancement and injury prevention in running. As a professional athlete, he has won several medals and became the Dutch national champion 3000m indoor in 2017. As freelance strength and conditioning specialist, he helps top athletes to improve their performance, using the latest scientific insights. As a sports scientist Van Hooren translates theoretical concepts into practical recommendations and published more than 30 scientific articles.<figure><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Zi2Q9rSINeM?&wmode=opaque&rel=0&enablejsapi=1&origin=https://www.wevolver.com" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable" data-lf-yt-playback-inspected-kn9eq4roawkarlvp="true"></iframe><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Van Hooren and his collaborators in Maastricht (Panayiotis Teratsias, Paul Willems, Maarten Drost and Kenneth Meijer) in KU Leuven (Benedicte Vanwanseele and Sam van Rossom) are grateful for the collaboration and support from Usono. &ldquo;Capturing the ultrasound data would have been much more difficult or even impossible without the ProbeFix Dynamic T&rdquo; he states when asked about his experience. The study included ten male participants who performed the exercises while full-body kinematics, ground reaction forces, surface muscle activation and biceps femoris long head fascicle behaviour with ultrasound were measured.<h3>Measuring during exercises</h3>Van Hooren explains: &ldquo;By measuring the forces, activation, and fascicle behaviour of the hamstrings during these exercises we can get very valuable insights into the potential long-term effects that these exercises may have. For example, the amount of active fascicle lengthening during an exercise likely provides information about the stimulus for long-term increases in fascicle length (which is a risk factor for hamstring injuries). And by comparing fascicle length using ultrasound between these exercises, we can therefore get more information about which exercise is potentially most effective to modify this risk factor.<h3>Custom-made holder</h3>The ProbeFix Dynamic allowed us to visualize dynamic hamstring fascicle behaviour during multiple exercises. This is something that has not been achieved before because it is incredibly difficult to capture clear ultrasound images. The ProbeFix Dynamic however allowed us to fine-tune the position and orientation of the ultrasound probe to optimize image quality, which would not have been possible with conventional approaches. USONO even made a custom-made holder specifically designed for our flat-shaped ultrasound transducer in B-mode (Telemed ArtUs, Vilnius, Lithuania). They also made an attachment with reflective markers so we could determine the position and orientation of the probe with our 3D motion capture system. Overall, we are therefore very happy with the collaboration.<figure><img src="https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/wevolver-project-images/froala%2F1650973763697-ProbeFix+Dynamic+T.png" style="width: 300px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">ProbeFix Dynamic T during setup<figcaption> </figcaption></figure><h3>Collaboration in new applications and studies</h3>Regarding the collaboration CEO Victor Donker agrees with Van Hooren: &ldquo;we love to work with intrinsically motivated people like Bas who strive for next level ultrasound research applications. We have known Bas and his colleagues in Maastricht for years and know they are always working on amazing studies that have a great impact on sports science.&rdquo; The products and services Usono offers are designed especially for these applications. This ProbeFix Dynamic T version was developed in collaboration with Amsterdam UMC and colleagues in Maastricht. The ProbeFix Dynamic can be used in research into muscle behaviour during exercises or even running or cycling. With the modular probe adapter, any ultrasound (linear) probe can be attached to the human body. Related studies are performed in universities, private clinics and professional soccer clubs, in the Netherlands, United States, Italy, Taiwan, and the United Kingdom among many other countries.<hr><h3>Publication and contact</h3>Muscle forces and fascicle behaviour during three hamstring exercisesBas Van Hooren, Benedicte Vanwanseele, Sam van Rossom, Panayiotis Teratsias, Paul Willems, Maarten Drost, Kenneth Meijer<a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/sms.14158" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Link to full publication</a>Contact Usono:&nbsp;<a href="mailto:info@usono.com">info@usono.com</a>

Synched ultrasound (Telemed ArtUs with Usono ProbeFix Dynamic T) and motion capturing with Vicon

Researchers in Maastricht and Leuven used ProbeFix Dynamic for a pioneering study using dynamic ultrasound imaging and 3D motion tracking in Nordic hamstring curl, single-leg Roman chair, and single-leg deadlift.

ProbeFix Dynamic crucial for ultrasound imaging of hamstring muscle and fascicle behaviour.

Real-time occupancy monitoring of the comings and goings inside a warehouse, conference room, or corridor yields valuable data. That data can be sent to the Cloud for deeper analysis and strategic decision-making on occupancy issues such as enhanced building security, personnel safety monitoring, and sustainable lighting and HVAC use.<h2>Better productivity and planning</h2>System managers can maximize space usage and boost productivity by monitoring building occupancy. For example, a wireless occupancy sensor solution could instantly notify whether a meeting room is currently occupied or how many people on average use a particular room.Occupancy detection also has a role to play in maintaining health and safety. For example, the technology makes it much easier to implement social distancing policies that will help keep an endemic variant of COVID-19 and other endemic diseases such as influenza at bay.Wireless occupancy detection can also replace traditional lighting controls in a smart building or home. Improvements in efficiency from automated lighting can be dramatic. Such systems can significantly reduce energy use in commercial buildings, where lighting constitutes some 26 percent of total electricity consumption. According to data from the U.S. Department of Energy, installing occupancy-based sensor lighting controls can lead to energy savings of ten percent in an open-plan office, 45 percent in a warehouse, and as high as 60 percent in a restroom.Employing occupancy sensors linked to HVAC controls can lead to similar energy savings. The sensors can adjust temperature settings, turn down airflows, or even turn the HVAC off depending on who's around.<h2>Motion sensor types</h2>Wireless occupancy sensors commonly use infrared (IR) light and microwaves, among other techniques, to detect the presence of people even when they're stationary.The passive IR (PIR) sensor is the more common type due to its simplicity and relatively low cost. It is triggered by IR level change, like from a warm object such as a person. PIR sensors feature low energy consumption—the sensor's passive operation requires very little power compared to other motion detection systems—making a good alternative in an application where extended battery life is critical. Some downsides to PIR technology are that it struggles to detect tiny movements, must have direct line-of-sight with the moving object to operate, has limited range and restricted coverage area.Microwave sensors address the weaknesses of PIR because they can cover wide areas, feature good range, and don't require line-of-sight with the moving object. The downsides are cost, and most significantly, power consumption. The units must constantly emit a microwave signal, which requires continuous power draw.Hybrid or dual-technology sensors incorporating PIR and microwave in a single device combine the advantages of each technology for a high-performance motion detector system with a very low false detection rate. The downside is cost.<h2>Easy-fit occupancy detection</h2>Brossard, Canada-based <a href="https://www.nordicsemi.com/News/2021/09/I-SYST-module-employs-nRF52832-SoC?utm_campaign=2021%20wevolver" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">I-SYST</a>, has developed the BLUEPYRO-M3225, a module providing plug-and-play motion/proximity detection capability, to support various wireless room occupancy detection applications. The product has been designed to help inexperienced PIR users quickly set up a wireless room occupancy detection system. It works in the home/building automation range, such as lighting control, security systems, smart thermostats, and in wildlife motion detection photography applications.The I-SYST module integrates Nordic's nRF52832 SoC to deliver the processing power required for such applications. BLUEPYRO-M3225 features the Excelitas Technologies DigiPyro PYD2592, a dual-element PIR sensor with built-in signal processing, digital output, and wake-up/sleep mode functionality. The PIR sensor integration in the module enables a wireless solution with low electromagnetic interference (EMI) characteristics. The PIR sensor's wake-up feature is essential for battery-operated applications because it limits power use until a motion event is detected.The wireless occupancy sensor market is on the move, with companies and individuals reaping the rewards of enhanced detection capability. For example, The Business Times reports that in Schneider Electric's offices in Kallang, Singapore, over a thousand sensors across nine floors track the occupancy of workstations and meeting rooms in near real-time. The data helps the company tailor lighting and HVAC according to attendance.&nbsp;<hr>This article was first published on Nordic's&nbsp;<a href="https://blog.nordicsemi.com/getconnected" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" id="isPasted"></a><a href="https://blog.nordicsemi.com/getconnected?utm_campaign=2021%20wevolver" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Get Connected Blog</a>.

Real-time occupancy monitoring of the comings and goings inside a warehouse, conference room, or corridor yields valuable data.

Wireless occupancy detection technology aids productivity and sustainability

Epic Games’ Unreal Engine software may be best known for powering smash hit games like Fortnite, but the platform is also being more widely adopted across industries, including film, television, architecture, and more. One such adopter, Hasraf “HaZ” Dulull of <a href="https://hazfilm.com/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">HaZ Film</a>, is currently in production on RIFT, a feature-length animated film created entirely in real-time with Unreal Engine and the inertial&nbsp;<a href="https://www.xsens.com/products/mvn-animate" rel="noopener" target="_blank">motion capture</a> capabilities of Xsens.With Xsens and the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.unrealengine.com/marketplace/en-US/product/mvn-live-link" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Live Link plug-in for Unreal Engine</a>, filmmakers are able to see mocap results in real-time within the movie’s world using actual character assets. And with the Xsens Motioncloud platform, the London-based Dulull can easily collaborate with mocap specialist&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/c/FeedingWolves" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Gabriella Krousaniotakis</a> in Florida as they share data and process it in the cloud.<img data-fr-image-pasted="true" src="https://www.xsens.com/hs-fs/hubfs/image-png-Sep-22-2021-12-12-50-06-PM.png?width=815&amp;name=image-png-Sep-22-2021-12-12-50-06-PM.png" width="815" srcset="https://www.xsens.com/hs-fs/hubfs/image-png-Sep-22-2021-12-12-50-06-PM.png?width=408&amp;name=image-png-Sep-22-2021-12-12-50-06-PM.png 408w, https://www.xsens.com/hs-fs/hubfs/image-png-Sep-22-2021-12-12-50-06-PM.png?width=815&amp;name=image-png-Sep-22-2021-12-12-50-06-PM.png 815w, https://www.xsens.com/hs-fs/hubfs/image-png-Sep-22-2021-12-12-50-06-PM.png?width=1223&amp;name=image-png-Sep-22-2021-12-12-50-06-PM.png 1223w, https://www.xsens.com/hs-fs/hubfs/image-png-Sep-22-2021-12-12-50-06-PM.png?width=1630&amp;name=image-png-Sep-22-2021-12-12-50-06-PM.png 1630w, https://www.xsens.com/hs-fs/hubfs/image-png-Sep-22-2021-12-12-50-06-PM.png?width=2038&amp;name=image-png-Sep-22-2021-12-12-50-06-PM.png 2038w, https://www.xsens.com/hs-fs/hubfs/image-png-Sep-22-2021-12-12-50-06-PM.png?width=2445&amp;name=image-png-Sep-22-2021-12-12-50-06-PM.png 2445w" sizes="(max-width: 815px) 100vw, 815px" class="fr-fic fr-dii" style="width: 756px;">Real-time revolutionDue for release at the end of 2021,&nbsp;<a href="https://hazfilm.com/riftmovie" rel="noopener" target="_blank">RIFT</a> is a feature-length film being created entirely within a real-time game engine. Unlike traditional CG animated films, which require vast teams of animators and must pour ample resources into rendering footage, HaZ Film is producing the movie within the world they’ve created in Unreal Engine. Thanks to Xsens, they can do so with a small, nimble team that’s able to continually refine the animation throughout the production.“There’s a huge pipeline that we’ve condensed into real-time. You’re not waiting hours or days for renders to be completed. We’re not a huge, massive team,” says Dulull. “This is a filmmaking revolution, and we can legitimately make a feature animated film with Unreal Engine.”<img data-fr-image-pasted="true" src="https://www.xsens.com/hubfs/Exclusive_RIFT_06-png-1.png" class="fr-fic fr-dii">As part of the production process, Haz and his team are constantly working towards very strict deadlines and are building the feature-length sequences at a rapid pace. A mocap solution was vital to their multi-location workflow and needed to allow for the capture of necessary motion data both quickly and accurately. From his previous experience with Xsens, our MVN motion capture suits were a first choice for the production.&nbsp;Rapid mocap with XsensLeading the motion capture and virtual production pipeline R&amp;D for HaZ Film is Gabriella Krousaniotakis, who is entirely self-taught, quickly picking up how to capture and transport the data for instant use in Unreal Engine. For RIFT, Gabriella uses the Xsens MVN suit to precisely capture character animations, all the way down to the intricate hand positioning and finger movements, thanks to Xsens Gloves by Manus, using toy guns as stand-ins for weapons that will be created digitally in the next layer of the process.<img data-fr-image-pasted="true" src="https://www.xsens.com/hs-fs/hubfs/image-png-Sep-22-2021-12-13-05-67-PM.png?width=815&amp;name=image-png-Sep-22-2021-12-13-05-67-PM.png" width="815" srcset="https://www.xsens.com/hs-fs/hubfs/image-png-Sep-22-2021-12-13-05-67-PM.png?width=408&amp;name=image-png-Sep-22-2021-12-13-05-67-PM.png 408w, https://www.xsens.com/hs-fs/hubfs/image-png-Sep-22-2021-12-13-05-67-PM.png?width=815&amp;name=image-png-Sep-22-2021-12-13-05-67-PM.png 815w, https://www.xsens.com/hs-fs/hubfs/image-png-Sep-22-2021-12-13-05-67-PM.png?width=1223&amp;name=image-png-Sep-22-2021-12-13-05-67-PM.png 1223w, https://www.xsens.com/hs-fs/hubfs/image-png-Sep-22-2021-12-13-05-67-PM.png?width=1630&amp;name=image-png-Sep-22-2021-12-13-05-67-PM.png 1630w, https://www.xsens.com/hs-fs/hubfs/image-png-Sep-22-2021-12-13-05-67-PM.png?width=2038&amp;name=image-png-Sep-22-2021-12-13-05-67-PM.png 2038w, https://www.xsens.com/hs-fs/hubfs/image-png-Sep-22-2021-12-13-05-67-PM.png?width=2445&amp;name=image-png-Sep-22-2021-12-13-05-67-PM.png 2445w" sizes="(max-width: 815px) 100vw, 815px" class="fr-fic fr-dii" style="width: 756px;">Once captured, everything is ported into Unreal and sent over to Haz in London to review the next day as part of their efficient around the clock workflow. Not only are the project’s key collaborators nearly half a world away from each other, but they often move around or travel for work. This rapid prototyping and turnaround are aided by Xsens MotionCloud, the cloud-based data transfer and processing platform we released earlier in 2021. MotionCloud makes it easy for them to send data back and forth and access it from anywhere, removing any barriers that might have impeded this kind of remote working model in the past.“MotionCloud is awesome because we can access the Xsens data anywhere in the world and we don’t need to spend hours processing data – we get to see things in real-time which is key.”&nbsp;Always moving forwardHaZ Film continues pushing ahead with this inventive production model, and the ability to work with accurate motion data in a real-time creation engine means that the film is continually being improved with every little tweak and enhancement. Nothing is wasted on this indie production: they can move fast, break barriers, and constantly refine along the way.<img data-fr-image-pasted="true" src="https://www.xsens.com/hs-fs/hubfs/image-png-Sep-22-2021-12-13-20-81-PM.png?width=815&amp;name=image-png-Sep-22-2021-12-13-20-81-PM.png" width="815" srcset="https://www.xsens.com/hs-fs/hubfs/image-png-Sep-22-2021-12-13-20-81-PM.png?width=408&amp;name=image-png-Sep-22-2021-12-13-20-81-PM.png 408w, https://www.xsens.com/hs-fs/hubfs/image-png-Sep-22-2021-12-13-20-81-PM.png?width=815&amp;name=image-png-Sep-22-2021-12-13-20-81-PM.png 815w, https://www.xsens.com/hs-fs/hubfs/image-png-Sep-22-2021-12-13-20-81-PM.png?width=1223&amp;name=image-png-Sep-22-2021-12-13-20-81-PM.png 1223w, https://www.xsens.com/hs-fs/hubfs/image-png-Sep-22-2021-12-13-20-81-PM.png?width=1630&amp;name=image-png-Sep-22-2021-12-13-20-81-PM.png 1630w, https://www.xsens.com/hs-fs/hubfs/image-png-Sep-22-2021-12-13-20-81-PM.png?width=2038&amp;name=image-png-Sep-22-2021-12-13-20-81-PM.png 2038w, https://www.xsens.com/hs-fs/hubfs/image-png-Sep-22-2021-12-13-20-81-PM.png?width=2445&amp;name=image-png-Sep-22-2021-12-13-20-81-PM.png 2445w" sizes="(max-width: 815px) 100vw, 815px" class="fr-fic fr-dii" style="width: 756px;">“The Xsens data is close to perfect, and we’re always looking to move as fast as possible to the next step,” says Dulull. “As artists, we’re always trying to get that final 10% that takes a film from ‘cool’ to ‘friggin’ awesome,’” says Dulull. “We can do that because of the real-time pipeline, the speed of Xsens motion capture, and the accuracy of the Manus gloves.”&nbsp;

RIFT is a feature-length animated film shot entirely in real-time using Unreal Engine and the inertial motion capture of the Xsens MVN platform.

With Xsens Motion Capture



Remote collaboration and real-time animation

The&nbsp;<a href="https://www.unibo.it/en" rel="noopener" target="_blank">University of Bologna</a> has taken its motion analysis capabilities to the next level with Xsens’ brand new automated&nbsp;<a href="https://www.xsens.com/mvn-reports" rel="noopener" target="_blank">MVN Reports</a>. Already, long-time users of Xsens’ motion capture technology, the university has now integrated comprehensive gait analysis faster and with an even greater level of accuracy than before.Powered by Xsens’ powerful MotionCloud platform, MVN Reports provides Xsens users with precise, motion data in a readable and easily accessible format. Once processed using the cloud, data is presented in varying graphs and tables tailored to the study at hand. For example, when the University of Bologna conducts a gait analysis, specific data points – such as the spatial and temporal parameters – will be automatically organized.Stefano Di Paolo, a Biomechanical Engineer, Ph.D. student, and research assistant at the University of Bologna works hands-on with the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.xsens.com/products/mvn-analyze" rel="noopener" target="_blank">MVN Analyze</a> system and the new MVN reports, producing gait reports for lower limb injuries in athletes and elderly people. We spoke with Stefano to find out how this new feature has leveled up his lab’s capabilities.Clear and accurate feedbackStefano works within the Department for Life Quality Studies, a research lab at Rizzoli Orthopedic Institute housing a multidisciplinary team of orthopedic surgeons, kinesiologists, biomechanical engineers, and mechanical engineers (group heads Professor Stefano Zaffagnini and Professor Laura Bragonzoni). The lab takes a multifaceted approach to its research, tapping into cutting-edge technology to continually improve its capabilities. It was for this reason that Stefano and the team chose to implement the MVN Analyze system more than three years ago.“Our studies take place in multiple environments,” stated Stefano, adding, “to ensure the utmost accuracy, we conduct our biomechanical analysis inside a hospital and outside, such as a sports field. We needed sensors that were unobstructed and easy to wear in such different contexts and for a wide range of ages and activity levels.”<img data-fr-image-pasted="true" src="https://www.xsens.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Img_Field.png?width=423&amp;name=Img_Field.png" alt="Img_Field" width="423" srcset="https://www.xsens.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Img_Field.png?width=212&amp;name=Img_Field.png 212w, https://www.xsens.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Img_Field.png?width=423&amp;name=Img_Field.png 423w, https://www.xsens.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Img_Field.png?width=635&amp;name=Img_Field.png 635w, https://www.xsens.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Img_Field.png?width=846&amp;name=Img_Field.png 846w, https://www.xsens.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Img_Field.png?width=1058&amp;name=Img_Field.png 1058w, https://www.xsens.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Img_Field.png?width=1269&amp;name=Img_Field.png 1269w" sizes="(max-width: 423px) 100vw, 423px" class="fr-fic fr-dii" style="width: 282px;"><img data-fr-image-pasted="true" src="https://www.xsens.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Img_hospital2.png?width=337&amp;name=Img_hospital2.png" alt="Img_hospital2" width="337" srcset="https://www.xsens.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Img_hospital2.png?width=169&amp;name=Img_hospital2.png 169w, https://www.xsens.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Img_hospital2.png?width=337&amp;name=Img_hospital2.png 337w, https://www.xsens.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Img_hospital2.png?width=506&amp;name=Img_hospital2.png 506w, https://www.xsens.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Img_hospital2.png?width=674&amp;name=Img_hospital2.png 674w, https://www.xsens.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Img_hospital2.png?width=843&amp;name=Img_hospital2.png 843w, https://www.xsens.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Img_hospital2.png?width=1011&amp;name=Img_hospital2.png 1011w" sizes="(max-width: 337px) 100vw, 337px" class="fr-fic fr-dii" style="width: 256px;">The research lab conducts a complete clinical and functional inspection, including gait analysis, on patients both pre and post-operation for lower limb injuries. Using the automatic Gait Analysis Report, Stefano can obtain precise biomechanical data presented accurately. Alongside specific parameters and graphs, there is also a digital recording of an avatar completing the movements performed by the patient for reference.This boosts Stefano’s possibilities to share clear feedback instantly with surgeons and physicians, and kinesiologists without needing to spend prior time completing an analysis.“We now have an opportunity to inspect all of the relevant kinematic variables available in the Gait Analysis Report. When I complete a gait analysis, I only use automatic reporting – it’s complete, for both the general understanding and a deeper analysis of the subject,” explained Stefano.Injuries requiring an operation, such as knee cruciate ligaments or ankle prosthesis, can be analyzed fully – this provides the surgeon or physician with enough detail to understand the condition of the patient properly. A post-operation analysis is then conducted to map out a safe return to normal physical activity.Accessible data at speedImproving the level of the feedback given to surgeons is just one of the key benefits offered by MVN reporting – Stefano and his team can also greatly enhance the feedback and communication given to patients.The Gait Analysis Report is presented in a clear and easy-to-read format designed to make access simple for researchers and physical health practitioners.<img data-fr-image-pasted="true" src="https://www.xsens.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Img_hospital_avatar.png?width=774&amp;name=Img_hospital_avatar.png" alt="Img_hospital_avatar" width="774" srcset="https://www.xsens.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Img_hospital_avatar.png?width=387&amp;name=Img_hospital_avatar.png 387w, https://www.xsens.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Img_hospital_avatar.png?width=774&amp;name=Img_hospital_avatar.png 774w, https://www.xsens.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Img_hospital_avatar.png?width=1161&amp;name=Img_hospital_avatar.png 1161w, https://www.xsens.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Img_hospital_avatar.png?width=1548&amp;name=Img_hospital_avatar.png 1548w, https://www.xsens.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Img_hospital_avatar.png?width=1935&amp;name=Img_hospital_avatar.png 1935w, https://www.xsens.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Img_hospital_avatar.png?width=2322&amp;name=Img_hospital_avatar.png 2322w" sizes="(max-width: 774px) 100vw, 774px" class="fr-fic fr-dii"><img data-fr-image-pasted="true" src="https://www.xsens.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Img_data.png?width=774&amp;name=Img_data.png" alt="Img_data" width="774" srcset="https://www.xsens.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Img_data.png?width=387&amp;name=Img_data.png 387w, https://www.xsens.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Img_data.png?width=774&amp;name=Img_data.png 774w, https://www.xsens.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Img_data.png?width=1161&amp;name=Img_data.png 1161w, https://www.xsens.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Img_data.png?width=1548&amp;name=Img_data.png 1548w, https://www.xsens.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Img_data.png?width=1935&amp;name=Img_data.png 1935w, https://www.xsens.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Img_data.png?width=2322&amp;name=Img_data.png 2322w" sizes="(max-width: 774px) 100vw, 774px" class="fr-fic fr-dii">“There should always be a positive interaction with the patient while giving feedback – it’s important the patient understands the needs for each specification. For example, a curve on a graph means something for me as a technician and something else for the patient. The Gait Analysis Report’s visual interactions are great for this,” said Stefano.Stefano’s Ph.D. research is on injury prevention and the return to sport, ensuring that the rehabilitation process is safe and measured. Xsens’ sensors can work anywhere, making them ideal for full-body motion tracking in sport-specific environments. All of the information gained from the biomechanical analysis significantly limits the risk of re-injury.The futureStefano sees automated data analysis as a technology that will become standardized in his profession – even at the biggest research facilities. With data presented in a format that allows instant use, interactivity, and feedback, the automated feature covers all of the primary bases needed to complete a full gait analysis.“One of the most important qualities is the simple way users can interact with the software. It can be used at multiple levels; technical and research purposes on one side, and on the other, direct contact and direct feedback with clinicians and patients as well,” explained Stefano.Discover automated reporting and increase both the speed and accuracy of your research and physical health analysis today –&nbsp;<a href="https://www.xsens.com/mvn-reports" rel="noopener" target="_blank">find out more here</a>.&nbsp;

With Motion Capture for Analysis

Next-level gait analysis at the University of Bologna

with MVN Reports

How Pro-F is revolutionizing patient-centered care

Episode 01 - Hello GalaxyThis show's all about creating fun story elixirs using the Unreal Engine &amp; various motion capture tech. &nbsp;Gear Hard &amp; Soft&nbsp;- Unreal Engine 4.26 (Game engine for nearly everything) - Xsens MVN Link mocap suit (body motion capture) - Manus VR Prime II gloves ( hand motion capture) - iPhone 12 mini (facial motion capture)Learn more about the body motion capture technology behind this video. <a href="https://bit.ly/3eFv5X1" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Visit the Xsens website</a>.&nbsp;

Cory Strassburger created an alter ego using Xsens, among other technologies. Blu debuts his wild intergalactic vlog & discovers the almighty al Engi, the catalyst to building his virtual Empire in the metaverse! 

Blu unleashed into the Metaverse using real-time motion capture extravaganza

Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs) play a vital role in fields such as hydrocarbon drilling and extraction, marine surveying and aquatic environmental monitoring. An AUV can perform functions in which it is difficult for divers to accomplish, and can descend to depths which would put human operators in danger.Most AUV products on the market today are large, capable of carrying heavy payloads, and fitted with a large battery to enable them to stay underwater for long periods of time. This type of product suits customers such as oil companies, which can afford the substantial cost not only to buy a large AUV, but to transport it to where it is needed, to manoeuvre it into position, and to operate it.UK-based marine products supplier <a href="https://planet-ocean.co.uk/wp/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Planet Ocean</a> spotted that this left a gap in the market for a smaller, more affordable AUV. This realization spurred the development of <a href="https://planet-ocean.co.uk/wp/?page_id=4509" rel="noopener" target="_blank">ecoSUB</a>, a range of small, low-cost AUVs which can be easily carried, launched, operated and retrieved from the water by a single person.Its goal was to democratize the use of AUVs: to bring them within reach of all research institutes, universities, commercial users, users in less developed countries, and of other users who have limited resources.&nbsp;It turned out that the design of this innovative AUV required a motion tracking sensor which was both compact and accurate.<img src="https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/wevolver-project-images/froala%2F1619774171204-1619774171204.png" alt="Capture 2" width="1289" srcset="https://www.xsens.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Capture%202.png?width=645&amp;name=Capture%202.png 645w, https://www.xsens.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Capture%202.png?width=1289&amp;name=Capture%202.png 1289w, https://www.xsens.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Capture%202.png?width=1934&amp;name=Capture%202.png 1934w, https://www.xsens.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Capture%202.png?width=2578&amp;name=Capture%202.png 2578w, https://www.xsens.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Capture%202.png?width=3223&amp;name=Capture%202.png 3223w, https://www.xsens.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Capture%202.png?width=3867&amp;name=Capture%202.png 3867w" sizes="(max-width: 1289px) 100vw, 1289px" class="fr-fic fr-dii" style="width: 777px;">Xsens makes accurate underwater navigation possibleThe efficient operation of the ecoSUB AUV calls for accurate location data derived by the dead reckoning technique. On the surface of the water, geolocation is easy: satellite positioning signals determine position to a typical accuracy of ±5m.The satellites’ RF signals do not penetrate water, however, so the ecoSUB AUV determines its position by continuously tracking its motion relative to its launch point on the surface.&nbsp;For this motion tracking function, ecoSUB uses the <a href="https://www.xsens.com/inertial-sensor-modules" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Xsens MTi-3 AHRS</a> (Attitude and Heading Reference System), together with a discrete pressure sensor for depth measurement. The MTi-3 sensor provides the ecoSUB with highly accurate measurements of roll, pitch, heading and acceleration. The ecoSUB’s on-board computer continuously converts these measurements into position coordinates.<iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/7EEqPm0ylWk?&amp;t=6s&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable" style="width: 788px; height: 501px;"></iframe>The especially challenging requirements of designing a small and light AUV made the Xsens motion tracking sensor the ideal fit.&nbsp;‘The fundamental design objective for the ecoSUB was to make an AUV that was small and light enough for an average person to lift, while still having enough load-carrying capacity and range to perform useful tasks. Our design for the ecoSUB fits an “A” size sonar buoy tube – it is 1m long, and weighs just 4kg. To optimize the ecoSUB’s range and dynamic characteristics, we needed to apportion as much of the internal space as possible to the battery and the motor. So the motion sensor and the rest of the control electronics system have to be packed in a small space, in the presence of the strong magnetic fields generated by the motor system. And of course the accuracy of the AUV’s position data is absolutely crucial. When the AUV is being used for instance to detect an oil leak or to monitor variations in the oxygen content of sea water, users need to know exactly where in three dimensions it has taken its measurements.’Jeremy Sitbon, ecoSUB Chief Robotics EngineerXsens MTi-3 motion tracker: Small, light, reliableThe constraints applying to the design of the ecoSUB meant the motion sensor had to offer three essential characteristics:<ul><li>High accuracy in the sensor’s motion tracking data&nbsp;</li><li>Dependability, with high immunity to magnetic interference</li><li>Small size and weight</li></ul>The Xsens MTi-3 AHRS delivers on all three counts. The MTi-3 integrates multiple sensor functions including 3D accelerometer, gyroscope and magnetometer plus a processor.The accuracy of the sensor’s static measurements of roll and pitch is ±0.5°, and for yaw the value is ±2°. In use, the ecoSUB typically achieves positioning accuracy of ±5% of the distance travelled when using only the MTi-3 motion sensor and the pressure sensor measurements.The accuracy of the sensor’s measurements remains stable regardless of changes in the magnetic field around it. The ecoSUB designers have made full use of the sophisticated filtering capabilities built into the MTi-3 sensor: the sensor can be configured for operation in various types of operating environments, including for continuous strong magnetic interference. This is ideal for the ecoSUB, in which the propellers are coupled to the motor magnetically.All functionality is squeezed into a compact package which measures just 12.1 x 12.1 x 2.55mm and weighs less than 1g. Typical power consumption is less than 100mW, helping the ecoSUB’s battery to last longer and extend the vehicle’s range.Opening up the use of AUVs to whole new market segmentsAfter completing sea trials, the innovative ecoSUB AUV went into full commercial production in 2020. Jeremy Sitbon says that Planet Ocean is excited about the possibility of introducing a new generation of users to the utility of AUVs. The ecoSUB’s capabilities include acoustic (sonar) communication, enabling multiple ecoSUB AUVs to be used concurrently in ‘shoals’ to give a 3D picture of subsea conditions. The ecoSUB can act like a marine ‘truck’ – a carrier for almost any type of sensor or other payload, so the potential for its use is almost limitless.<blockquote>‘The success of the product comes down to our ability to pack a lot of functionality and performance into a very small space. Our decision to use the MTi-3 played a really important part in our ability to make this design successful. I’m very happy that we made the right choice!’</blockquote>Jeremy Sitbon, ecoSUB Chief Robotics Engineer&nbsp;Learn more about the <a href="https://www.xsens.com/mti-3" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Xsens MTi-3 AHRS</a>&nbsp;here.Choosing your productWant to know the right inertial measurement unit for your application? Try our recommendation tool and find out what MTi you need by answering just 3 questions.<a href="https://www.xsens.com/cs/c/?cta_guid=e67ae0db-e496-4b1b-aaae-0f33c66a97bb&signature=AAH58kERCATymf5UB4b7WHUo8PJHsSLMlQ&pageId=42748316968&placement_guid=0e0cf390-8244-48ac-aa9c-cc22448b3988&click=38fa5093-baba-426c-92e2-244e329bd831&hsutk=26cd9f0233255f079c3a3909dd662892&canon=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.xsens.com%2Fcases%2Fsmall-light-and-accurate-xsens-mti-3-sensor-helps-planet-ocean-open-up-new-markets-for-autonomous-underwater-vehicles&utm_referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.xsens.com%2Fexplore%3Ffilter%3Dcases&portal_id=3446270&redirect_url=APefjpHFi12gvYuHqoWSZfHrIGqiyim6_ONHhAlUSf5P2fSu9LX3yPDWqIEBNMTq7zPbzoK-WfoIZg8Bfa15xkMpbz1GkbkzFFTzUwGCgcPUASxo3Mq8GkOyNHKblRAbv48KApkSyYPNJwvTLiTVMI_w5QhewNpuAjHGGtTfSn2xG8nR_UcoJBph_ito-8xtKFpTW9QoAoROG3GmG8mI-y8TDzizVxJguxXZRuSkE0Jr3QNx52alDInkfDxEm_QGTqfCxOEdsmfaCQUt-NiFKNTC_MtmiftGKw&__hstc=81749512.26cd9f0233255f079c3a3909dd662892.1612181589013.1619708666522.1619773674521.185&__hssc=81749512.8.1619773674521&__hsfp=1627031933&contentType=blog-post" target="_blank" title="Recommendation tool">Recommendation tool</a>&nbsp;

with Xsens MTi

Xsens AHRS Enables Planet Ocean To Open Up New Markets For Autonomous Underwater Vehicles

Last year's release of <a href="https://www.xsens.com/news/xsens-mvn-analyze-2020-advances-sports-science-and-research-for-human-motion" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Xsens MVN 2020</a> updated our world-leading inertial motion capture system with a host of game-changing new features, such as remote on-body recording (rOBR), object tracking, 3D positional aiding, and much more. Already, <a href="https://www.xsens.com/products/mvn-analyze" rel="noopener" target="_blank">MVN Analyze</a> users have begun harnessing these new features to achieve incredible results – one such user is Dr. Alex Moorhead, a research scientist and post-doctoral research fellow at the <a href="https://www.polimi.it/en/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Politecnico di Milano</a>, where he has utilized the rOBR feature to conduct professional sports analysis on junior tennis players.Completing his master’s degree at the University of Colorado while working at the US Olympic Training Center, Dr. Moorhead has since researched the biomechanics of a broad range of professional sports, completing over 1000 tests and analyses for athletes ranging from swimming, wrestling, track and field, pentathlon and many others – his most recent focus being the performance of professional junior tennis players in Rome. We spoke with Dr. Moorhead about his research into these pro tennis players, and how Xsens MVN Analyze has revealed detailed insight into performance enhancement and injury prevention.&nbsp;Precise analysis with Xsens MVN AnalyzeAfter completing his Ph.D. in Integrated Biomedical Research at the University of Milan, Dr. Moorhead began working at Politecnico di Milano where he was introduced to Xsens when they visited to present their technology. As his work became more widely known, he was invited to research a team of Italy’s very best junior tennis athletes – they were seeking expertise and technology that could guide the enhancement of their athletic performance and technique. With knowledge of various research tools used to study biomechanics, Dr. Moorhead recognized this as a great opportunity to utilize Xsens MVN Analyze for the research. The ability to use the Xsens inertial motion capture suits anywhere with precision allows Dr. Moorhead to capture the dynamic athleticism required in tennis whilst his subjects are on the court. &nbsp;“Before I had even spoken with Xsens to order the suits, I knew it would be the right tool for the job,” explained Dr. Moorhead. “One of the things I like about the Xsens suit is it holds the sensors in place, providing accurate motion capture &nbsp;without the need for frequent recalibration, and yet, it allows the athletes to move without feeling restricted. As soon as they had the suits on, they had no issues at all. The MVN Analyze software is also perfect for the post-processing of the data,” he added. <img width="500" alt="_1081035" src="https://images.wevolver.com/eyJidWNrZXQiOiJ3ZXZvbHZlci1wcm9qZWN0LWltYWdlcyIsImtleSI6ImZyb2FsYS8xNjEyNTMzMzg0MjI2LTE2MTI1MzMzODQyMjYucG5nIiwiZWRpdHMiOnsicmVzaXplIjp7IndpZHRoIjo5NTAsImZpdCI6ImNvdmVyIn19fQ==" srcset="https://www.xsens.com/hs-fs/hubfs/_1081035.jpg?width=250&amp;name=_1081035.jpg 250w, https://www.xsens.com/hs-fs/hubfs/_1081035.jpg?width=500&amp;name=_1081035.jpg 500w, https://www.xsens.com/hs-fs/hubfs/_1081035.jpg?width=750&amp;name=_1081035.jpg 750w, https://www.xsens.com/hs-fs/hubfs/_1081035.jpg?width=1000&amp;name=_1081035.jpg 1000w, https://www.xsens.com/hs-fs/hubfs/_1081035.jpg?width=1250&amp;name=_1081035.jpg 1250w, https://www.xsens.com/hs-fs/hubfs/_1081035.jpg?width=1500&amp;name=_1081035.jpg 1500w" sizes="(max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px" class="fr-fic fr-dii" style="width: 778px;">Using the Xsens suits, Dr. Moorhead was able to obtain clean data from the tennis athletes in real tennis court environments and record accurate, repeatable results. Vital techniques, such as the serve, can be analyzed in realistic scenarios.&nbsp;“From the range of movement and agility testing to actual serves, everything is recorded on the court. We’re trying to find the correlation between service speed, accuracy, and the range of motion in the shoulders – both external and internal with the full extension of the arm and the hip flexors. More than 90% of the tennis match points are decided from the serve or return of serve. So if you can get the most powerful and accurate serve possible, you have a huge advantage,” he explained.Remote On-Body Recording<img width="500" alt="_1081028" src="https://images.wevolver.com/eyJidWNrZXQiOiJ3ZXZvbHZlci1wcm9qZWN0LWltYWdlcyIsImtleSI6ImZyb2FsYS8xNjEyNTMzMzgzODk3LTE2MTI1MzMzODM4OTcucG5nIiwiZWRpdHMiOnsicmVzaXplIjp7IndpZHRoIjo5NTAsImZpdCI6ImNvdmVyIn19fQ==" srcset="https://www.xsens.com/hs-fs/hubfs/_1081028.jpg?width=250&amp;name=_1081028.jpg 250w, https://www.xsens.com/hs-fs/hubfs/_1081028.jpg?width=500&amp;name=_1081028.jpg 500w, https://www.xsens.com/hs-fs/hubfs/_1081028.jpg?width=750&amp;name=_1081028.jpg 750w, https://www.xsens.com/hs-fs/hubfs/_1081028.jpg?width=1000&amp;name=_1081028.jpg 1000w, https://www.xsens.com/hs-fs/hubfs/_1081028.jpg?width=1250&amp;name=_1081028.jpg 1250w, https://www.xsens.com/hs-fs/hubfs/_1081028.jpg?width=1500&amp;name=_1081028.jpg 1500w" sizes="(max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px" class="fr-fic fr-dii" style="width: 778px;">One of several new features launched with MVN 2020, <a href="https://www.xsens.com/blog/remote-on-body-recordingrobr" target="_blank">rOBR</a> (Remote On-Body Recording) became an integral part of Dr. Moorhead’s research. The rOBR feature allows full-body motion data to be tracked and recorded using body packs worn by the user, rather than being tethered to a workstation or laptop. This makes it possible to analyze multiple athletes simultaneously and also means data from the body packs can be transferred to the computer later for analysis. The latter made Dr. Moorhead’s research quicker and more efficient. &nbsp;&nbsp;“rOBR is great. You can watch this data as it’s collected live and stop and cut while the athlete is performing. I ended up transitioning to only using rOBR because of how efficient it was. It makes calibration quicker, it makes it easier to interact with the athlete, and it’s quite nice when you have 12 athletes completing multiple movements. The fact that the data is recorded and downloaded later cuts a lot of valuable time” explained Dr. Moorhead.Dr. Moorhead uses Xsens MVN Analyze to process his data, with as many as 100 files processed overnight, all before inputting the data into MATLAB software for analysis.&nbsp;“rOBR will probably be my primary means of using the software in the future. It was so accurate that I didn’t need to check that the movements were fine while assessing. You can interact with the athlete to an even greater extent and you don’t need to monitor a computer the whole time,” he said. &nbsp;Preventing shoulder injury and improving serving techniqueBy studying the mechanics of the movement, he realized that the serving motion utilizes many of the same muscles which are activated during an overhead squat (squatting with a barbell fully extended above the head) while also giving insight into the athlete’s active range of motion. By studying the athlete’s overhead squat with an empty barbell while in the Xsens suit, Dr. Moorhead could assess individual flexibility and strength. Improper form or weak links in the kinetic chain can result in poor performance or shoulder injuries, one of the most common injuries found in professional tennis.&nbsp;“Serving begins with the power of the feet driving into the ground, the kinetic energy then travels through the abdominal muscles, into the shoulder, the elbow, and finally, the hand. Somebody that doesn’t have an efficient or full kinetic chain may attempt the majority of the movement with the shoulder,” he said. “Let’s say there’s no flexibility in an athlete’s hips and ankles for the overhead squat. Power gets lost at these joints and doesn’t get transferred. The subject is then required to produce all of the strength with their pecs and shoulders. You might be surprised to see some of these elite athletes; some of them can’t hold a bar and descend without collapsing at the hips or lifting heels off the ground,” he continued.&nbsp;<img width="500" alt="_1080893" src="https://images.wevolver.com/eyJidWNrZXQiOiJ3ZXZvbHZlci1wcm9qZWN0LWltYWdlcyIsImtleSI6ImZyb2FsYS8xNjEyNTMzMzg0MDY2LTE2MTI1MzMzODQwNjYucG5nIiwiZWRpdHMiOnsicmVzaXplIjp7IndpZHRoIjo5NTAsImZpdCI6ImNvdmVyIn19fQ==" srcset="https://www.xsens.com/hs-fs/hubfs/_1080893.jpg?width=250&amp;name=_1080893.jpg 250w, https://www.xsens.com/hs-fs/hubfs/_1080893.jpg?width=500&amp;name=_1080893.jpg 500w, https://www.xsens.com/hs-fs/hubfs/_1080893.jpg?width=750&amp;name=_1080893.jpg 750w, https://www.xsens.com/hs-fs/hubfs/_1080893.jpg?width=1000&amp;name=_1080893.jpg 1000w, https://www.xsens.com/hs-fs/hubfs/_1080893.jpg?width=1250&amp;name=_1080893.jpg 1250w, https://www.xsens.com/hs-fs/hubfs/_1080893.jpg?width=1500&amp;name=_1080893.jpg 1500w" sizes="(max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px" class="fr-fic fr-dii" style="width: 778px;">The precision and durability of the robust Xsens sensors make them the perfect solution for professional tennis analysis, and during his research, the sensors provided a means to accurately assess and compare techniques.&nbsp;“If you then compare a well-performed serve to a less accurate or powerful serve with different movement patterns, you can show they’re exposing themselves to more injuries. This could be mitigated through strengthening of the rotator cuff, opening hips, or strengthening the posterior chain to explode upwards and come down on the ball. By looking at the basic movements using Xsens data, you can piece together the bigger movements one joint at a time,” explained Dr. Moorhead.&nbsp;Dr. Moorhead was able to utilize the Xsens motion tracking alongside a high-speed video that matched Xsens’ 240 samples per second. This meant he could show how the athletes moved on camera and then relay it with the exact data.&nbsp;“Athletes are not scientists, so if you can present a graph next to a video then that can make a huge difference. Here, you can see an example of an athlete which performed an Overhead squat. By looking at the maximal range of motion on each repetition, it is apparent that the athlete has diminished flexibility in his right lower extremity. This could be due to injury, or lack of training.”<img width="1000" src="https://images.wevolver.com/eyJidWNrZXQiOiJ3ZXZvbHZlci1wcm9qZWN0LWltYWdlcyIsImtleSI6ImZyb2FsYS8xNjEyNTMzMzg0NDczLTE2MTI1MzMzODQ0NzMucG5nIiwiZWRpdHMiOnsicmVzaXplIjp7IndpZHRoIjo5NTAsImZpdCI6ImNvdmVyIn19fQ==" class="fr-fic fr-dii">“The Xsens avatar also comes in great use for providing a visual aid when we’re discussing the findings with the athletes,” said Dr. Moorhead. “While athletes can watch a video, seeing an up-close, virtual model of their exact movement which can be rotated, stopped, and replayed, really helps the athlete to perceive what happens during each movement and understand where they can improve,” he added.<img width="1000" src="https://images.wevolver.com/eyJidWNrZXQiOiJ3ZXZvbHZlci1wcm9qZWN0LWltYWdlcyIsImtleSI6ImZyb2FsYS8xNjEyNTMzMzg1NTMwLTE2MTI1MzMzODU1MzAucG5nIiwiZWRpdHMiOnsicmVzaXplIjp7IndpZHRoIjo5NTAsImZpdCI6ImNvdmVyIn19fQ==" class="fr-fic fr-dii">Benchmarking a tennis seasonSo far, Dr. Moorhead has analyzed the first part of the junior athlete’s tennis season, tracking large quantities of biomechanical data. While this data provides an in-depth look into the performance of the athletes, with significant adaptations already being made to technique and performance, the long-term analysis of an entire tennis season will help benchmark performance and create databases for reference.&nbsp;“This is only the beginning, we want to build a database of normative values. For instance, each sport can have an age range and performance level with data that allows us to predict whether someone may be heading towards an injury or dip in form. We want to avoid injuries, but if they occur, we can use this data to help them recover faster too. We can use this data to improve avoidance of injury in other athletes due to the depth of data and length of time the data was recorded,” explained Dr. Moorhead. &nbsp;“This is based in hard science and we can significantly improve performance with this data.”<img width="5184" alt="_1080772" src="https://images.wevolver.com/eyJidWNrZXQiOiJ3ZXZvbHZlci1wcm9qZWN0LWltYWdlcyIsImtleSI6ImZyb2FsYS8xNjEyNTMzMzg3MDk0LTE2MTI1MzMzODcwOTQuanBlZyIsImVkaXRzIjp7InJlc2l6ZSI6eyJ3aWR0aCI6OTUwLCJmaXQiOiJjb3ZlciJ9fX0=" srcset="https://www.xsens.com/hs-fs/hubfs/_1080772.jpg?width=2592&amp;name=_1080772.jpg 2592w, https://www.xsens.com/hs-fs/hubfs/_1080772.jpg?width=5184&amp;name=_1080772.jpg 5184w, https://www.xsens.com/hs-fs/hubfs/_1080772.jpg?width=7776&amp;name=_1080772.jpg 7776w, https://www.xsens.com/hs-fs/hubfs/_1080772.jpg?width=10368&amp;name=_1080772.jpg 10368w, https://www.xsens.com/hs-fs/hubfs/_1080772.jpg?width=12960&amp;name=_1080772.jpg 12960w, https://www.xsens.com/hs-fs/hubfs/_1080772.jpg?width=15552&amp;name=_1080772.jpg 15552w" sizes="(max-width: 5184px) 100vw, 5184px" class="fr-fic fr-dii">Learn more about Xsens MVN AnalyzeFind out more about how you can utilize MVN Analyze to enhance your sports and biomechanical research <a href="https://www.xsens.com/products/mvn-analyze" target="_blank">here</a>.&nbsp;

Enhancing the performance of Junior Pro Tennis Athletes

<a href="https://www.xsens.com/motioncloud" rel="noopener" target="_blank">MotionCloud</a> is an all-in-one motion capture service for powerful data processing, reporting, and global collaboration.&nbsp;Xsens, the leading innovator in inertial motion tracking technology for 3D character animation, sports, health and ergonomics, launched MotionCloud service for MVN users during All-Digital CES 2021. This landmark upgrade to <a href="https://www.xsens.com/motion-capture" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Xsens MVN</a> adds cloud-based storage, processing power, and reporting tools, taking team collaboration and motion data processing to new heights. Alongside this expansion, Xsens is opening up a Beta Program, kickstarting a host of new cloud-based developments for all Xsens markets.<img width="1200" class="fr-fic fr-dii" alt="social_post_2" sizes="(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px" src="https://images.wevolver.com/eyJidWNrZXQiOiJ3ZXZvbHZlci1wcm9qZWN0LWltYWdlcyIsImtleSI6ImZyb2FsYS8xNjEwNzE4MzE4NjQ4LTE2MTA3MTgzMTg2NDgucG5nIiwiZWRpdHMiOnsicmVzaXplIjp7IndpZHRoIjo5NTAsImZpdCI6ImNvdmVyIn19fQ==">Global collaboration and dependable resultsWith <a href="https://www.xsens.com/motioncloud" rel="noopener" target="_blank">MotionCloud</a>, Xsens users can access and process data from anywhere. <a href="https://www.xsens.com/products/mvn-analyze" rel="noopener" target="_blank">MVN Analyze</a> and <a href="https://www.xsens.com/products/mvn-animate" rel="noopener" target="_blank">MVN Animate</a> users will be able to upload data directly to the cloud, and share it with colleagues for easy review and analysis. For studios with remote setups, or for facilities with off-site research projects, tracking precise motion data from the world’s greatest athletes and actors has never been easier. Receive automatic generated reports for sports, health and ergonomic applications using the uploaded motion data. Mocap sessions can be completed by performers, while the data is instantly accessible to animators or data analysts in entirely different locations.&nbsp;&nbsp;The high level of data processing possible with <a href="https://www.xsens.com/motioncloud" rel="noopener" target="_blank">MotionCloud</a> means users are no longer limited by the power of their on-premises hardware, instead, MotionCloud produces detailed data analysis at a much faster rate than any desktop or laptop. MotionCloud offers users a state-of-the-art motion tracking and cloud stack, providing in-built performance analysis and reporting tailored to users’ requirements. MotionCloud is built for the modern-day studio and lab.&nbsp;“We are moving up and into the cloud. Xsens’ MotionCloud is a highly innovative motion data specialist platform created for the most accurate data collection and sophisticated analytics possible, and all with incredible useability. MotionCloud is designed for the storage, analysis, and reporting of motion data, for any industry, sector, and purpose. We think Motioncloud significantly increases the productivity and efficiency of any team – we want to empower our customers in health, sports, ergonomics, and entertainment with this powerful tool,” said Rob Löring, Business Director 3D Body Motion at <a href="https://www.xsens.com/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Xsens.&nbsp;</a>&nbsp;The combination of precise Xsens inertial <a href="https://www.xsens.com/motion-capture" rel="noopener" target="_blank">motion tracking sensors</a> with an advanced fusion algorithm for processing produces world-class full-body motion data, which can all be stored and accessed safely in MotionCloud. Users can organize motion data collaboratively and reprocess multiple recordings as batches, saving time and expenditure.&nbsp;<img width="2027" class="fr-fic fr-dii" alt="Picture1-1" sizes="(max-width: 2027px) 100vw, 2027px" src="https://images.wevolver.com/eyJidWNrZXQiOiJ3ZXZvbHZlci1wcm9qZWN0LWltYWdlcyIsImtleSI6ImZyb2FsYS8xNjEwNzE4MzE4NzQ2LTE2MTA3MTgzMTg3NDUuanBlZyIsImVkaXRzIjp7InJlc2l6ZSI6eyJ3aWR0aCI6OTUwLCJmaXQiOiJjb3ZlciJ9fX0=">MoutionCloud Beta ProgramMotionCloud will be officially launched at <a href="https://www.ces.tech/About-CES.aspx" target="_blank">All-Digital CES 2021</a>, which took place online from the 11th to the 14th of January 2021. Find out more about MotionCloud <a href="https://www.xsens.com/motioncloud" rel="noopener" target="_blank">here</a> and rewatch the <a href="https://www.xsens.com/webinars" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">webinar series</a> discussing all of the new features. Xsens has also announced a free <a href="https://www.xsens.com/motioncloud" rel="noopener" target="_blank">MotionCloud Beta Program</a> to try and test the all new cloud-based developments and be one of the first to experience the next move in motion data.MotionCloud infographicCheck out this <a href="https://www.xsens.com/hubfs/MotionCloud%20Infographic.jpg" rel="noopener" target="_blank">MotionCloud Infographic</a> containing all aspects important to MotionCloud. It gives a complete overview of what MotionCloud is and what it brings you.Xsens MotionCloudYou can find more information on Xsens MotionCloud <a href="https://www.xsens.com/motioncloud" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">here</a>.<a title="Visit MotionCloud page" href="https://www.xsens.com/cs/c/?cta_guid=d4710ffe-32a2-4845-9750-9e6fa4c92378&amp;signature=AAH58kH58VQRV3mmURVXAirrg_Iwq4-zgw&amp;pageId=40559839902&amp;placement_guid=3562372f-fc9d-45b8-bc4d-63a0780a5782&amp;click=8e86ffb5-9b39-4f8c-8827-05091e0d8251&amp;hsutk=d3655aa5e2e88106a8fa6a945a75f13a&amp;canon=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.xsens.com%2Fnews%2Fxsens-will-launch-motioncloud-at-ces-introducing-cloud-based-motion-capture&amp;portal_id=3446270&amp;redirect_url=APefjpFfS3sKrt1SrHNjuvGbmt4rDmeHahHUC7J0clYpqINM5Xb5IURStYRksPGCDluZEV8Xg964eTsBeZuFdqhCSFYI6Wao6j9yZEMjp0UTVWs0vWR8c99iUKYraL8dM4SrqorzUWVl5aNzQdcqj8MrhdFGPj6i36AbEo_GYpaeza9n-839y9iK7tIHyjDBvgDOc-4IQDHCtzGwbPEHxlhRp6rNaSe2gbTdqN3ciYFn-wWt4w5rddRf5L9WK0Eq7AhXfk4ToDd0P9EEH88i7BQw8PSwFcIXNA&amp;__hstc=81749512.d3655aa5e2e88106a8fa6a945a75f13a.1608236092126.1610715100883.1610716934250.45&amp;__hssc=81749512.11.1610716934250&amp;__hsfp=141168424&amp;contentType=blog-post" target="_blank"></a>

Xsens Launched MotionCloud At All Digital CES 2021

Introducing Cloud-based Motion Capture

I recently had the pleasure of being an invited speaker at the Australian Council for Health, Physical Education and Recreation <a href="https://www.achper.org.au/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">(ACHPER)</a> conference. Here I gave a presentation on wearable technology in physical education, during which I also provided an engaging demonstration of the <a href="https://www.xsens.com/xsens-dot" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Xsens DOT</a> and how it can be integrated into their respective teaching curriculums. A strong focus of the conference was for students to be able to utilize digital technologies towards achieving personal and educational goals, as well as apply this knowledge in research and classroom practice. Further, to emphasize the enhancement of 21st century skills, the development of technological literacy, and the creation of technology tools for creative purposes and solving problems as they emerge. &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;<img src="https://images.wevolver.com/eyJidWNrZXQiOiJ3ZXZvbHZlci1wcm9qZWN0LWltYWdlcyIsImtleSI6ImZyb2FsYS8xNjA2OTIwNTQ0ODgyLUphc29uLmpwZyIsImVkaXRzIjp7InJlc2l6ZSI6eyJ3aWR0aCI6OTUwLCJmaXQiOiJjb3ZlciJ9fX0=">Dr Jason Konrath Recent times have shown an enormous uptake in the use and application of wearable technologies, we see it from wristwatches to wearable devices. In particular, wearable motion trackers are taking up much of the spotlight. Measuring human movement allows us to build solutions in applications spanning medical, sport and ergonomics to name a few. Already widely used in film productions and gaming to bring your favourite animated character or athlete to life, or professional athletes using motion sensors to enhance their performance. <a href="https://www.xsens.com/wearable-technology-in-education" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Wearable technology applications</a> are only limited by the extent of our imagination.&nbsp;With this in mind, it was our intention to inspire a new generation of students to create the jobs of tomorrow, that no-one knows about today. To this end, we set about creating tools that would allow them to work directly with these technologies and give them a real life feel for a Science, Technology, Engineering or Mathematics (STEM) career. Moreover, the ability to work hands on with the technology can improve understanding. If students hear something, they forget it. If they see it, they remember it. If they do it, they understand it. We believe motion trackers offer a unique experience to learn lessons across a range of topics, including physical education, mathematics and the sciences.&nbsp;Written in accordance with the syllabus of the Australian Tertiary Admission Ranking outcomes, we created support material to allow both researchers and educators to integrate the <a href="https://www.xsens.com/xsens-dot" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Xsens DOT</a> into their educational programs. Part of this support material includes a theoretical framework where we cover the various theoretical aspects of Biomechanics and its associated fields. Biomechanics is a field that integrates components of mechanics with biology and requires an interdisciplinary approach. This makes it an excellent teaching topic, as it involves lessons in human biology to encompass functional anatomy and physiology, as well as lesson in physics and mathematics, with human movement being the application of the taught principles.In addition to gaining an understanding of these theoretical concepts, we have created practical lessons for students to follow, which enables them to work directly with the technology to enhance their understanding. From the inner workings of each sensor component, to creating linked moving segment models, to creating anatomical models, as well as how to apply the data to a specific user case. Finally, field-based assignments can be performed to enhance student’s ability to collect, analyse and report data, with assessment criteria provided. Collectively, this allows a robust educational framework to provide students with a real-life feel for a career in STEM. The curriculum can simply be followed from start to finish, or relevant pieces of the support material can be used and integrated into your specific STEM discipline.&nbsp;Xsens DOT educational curriculum&nbsp;So, if you were looking for ways to make the learning process interesting, fun and application-oriented in STEM education. Consider adding the <a href="https://www.xsens.com/xsens-dot" rel="noopener" target="_blank">&nbsp;Xsens DOT</a> to your curriculum. Importantly, you will give your students the opportunity to enhance their 21st century skills. <a href="https://www.xsens.com/wearable-technology-in-education" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">For more information, visit XsensDOT wearable technology in education.</a>

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