Gypsy Mocap Systems Beat Off Stiff Competition At UCE

For immediate release

Brighton, UK, 1st March 2005: Animazoo announce that the University of Central England (UCE) has chosen Gypsy motion capture systems over stiff competition, for use in their Visualisation Research Unit (VRU).

The requirements of several departments were considered - Visual Communications, Animation, Computing, Music, Health and Engineering - and after extensive assessment of the available technologies, Gypsy systems were chosen as most able to cover the broad range of applications proposed.

Portability and flexibility were key in this decision however considerable attention was paid to quality of data. "The Gypsy was small enough to transport to our clients or research sites, could be used outdoors, and was easy to store," said Dr Gregory Sporton, Head of the Visualisation Research Unit. "The biggest issue was data quality. I had always been suspicious of the external nature of mo-cap collection, where the device was remote from the body that was moving. This seemed to me to guarantee loss of data in a practical sense, either through masking, mistakes in the software's interpretation or more tricky skin movement. The Gypsy, being attached to the body, was immediately responsive to the body's movements, and recorded it unambiguously and reliably."

Dr Sporton continued to explain his reasons for choosing Gypsy: "I had concerns about the expense of the components of optical systems, particularly the cameras. Further enquiries implied that despite setting aside a large amount of space to set up the optical system, it only provided very good capture data in the small central area of the set up. The answer to qualitative challenges was simple: buy more cameras. The Gypsy answer was access to new product development. This seemed far more helpful over the expected life of the kit. "

The Gypsy system has shown itself to be flexible, ensuring multi-departmental use. "We have applications ranging from ballet to athletics, work with disabled people and the needs of high quality animation and games design to take into consideration, and the Gypsy does the lot" said Dr. Sporton.

Quality data coupled with high usage mean the Gypsy solution has again proved itself both capable and excellent value for money.

Gypsy4: The future of motion capture

About Animazoo

Established in 1993, Animazoo is a young, creative and energetic company made up of engineers and technicians with years of experience in animation. Based in Brighton in the

UK and with a worldwide network of dealers and distributors, Animazoo focus on delivering a product range and a level of service that consistently exceeds expectations.

Animazoo's client list includes some of the world's most prestigious universities - Warwick University, University of Central England, University of Teesside, Glasgow Caledonian University, Purdue, MIT, and the Yale Medical School - as well as game developers, broadcasters and industry - Kuju, Magenta Software, Play on DVD, the BBC, Suzuki and the Toyota Motor Corporation. For more information about Animazoo, visit: http://www.animazoo.com or contact +44 (0) 1273 234 686, or email alison@animazoo.com