Virtual Technologies Inc will announce its CyberSuit wireless full-body motion capture suit at the Siggraph 97 trade show this week. Based on the technology in the company’s CyberGlove, CyberSuit uses Virtual Technologies’ patented sensing technology to measure the movement of the human body. Developed under NASA contract to monitor the biomechanics of astronauts on space missions, the CyberSuit records the positions of the ankles, knees, hips, back, neck, shoulders, elbows, forearms, wrists and hands. The joint sensors do not restrict movement, the company said, so enabling natural movements and a wide activity. During use the CyberSuit is untethered and does not need any external reference sensors. A moving graphical body model may be displayed in real-time, which allows for on-the-fly generation of computerized imagery synchronized to the movements of a human performer. The Palo Alto, California-based company will also introduce the CyberGrasp force-feedback system that lets users perceive various physical sensations from the computer-generated objects they manipulate in a virtual world. With CyberGrasp, grasp-resisting forces can be programmed to prevent the user’s fingers from penetrating or crushing a virtual object, it said. The company’s flagship product, the CyberGlove, is a fully instrumented glove that provides up to 22 high-accuracy joint measurements. Using Virtual Technologies’ proprietary resistive bend-sensing technology that transforms hand and finger movements into computer generated data and imagery, the CyberGlove has been used within a variety of applications, including virtual reality training and simulation, sign language/gesture recognition and performance motion capture. Cybersuit will be introduced at Siggraph 97, the computer graphics conference and exhibition which is currently being held in Los Angeles, California.
