Measurand to Demonstrate New Wireless Data Glove at NYC XSI User Group Meeting

NYC XSI User Group Meeting - Measurand Inc., an industry leader in portable motion capture and flexible sensing solutions, will be demonstrating ShapeHand at the next New York City XSI User Group Meeting, October 24, 2005 at the Pratt Institute, NYC. The 40 sensor ShapeHand data glove follows Measurand’s ShapeWrap II portable motion capture system and is aimed at animators whom expect quality data and an efficient motion capture pipeline.

ShapeHand is a wireless, portable and lightweight hand motion capture system of flexible ribbon sensors that are not physically built into gloves but rather attach to virtually any glove and hand size. ShapeHand is not hand specific, its independent glove design enables it for use on both left and right hands and means it’s now possible to get an exact fit, dispose of worn-out gloves, and avoid wearing the same glove that you and others have perspired in and dirtied.

Built on the same adaptable platform and ShapeTape technology as the ShapeWrap II motion capture system, ShapeHand works with Maya, XSI, LightWave, 3D Studio Max and Character Studio, Alias MoCap, Motion Builder and Motion Builder Pro, and JACK.

For more information regarding ShapeHand please visit: http://www.measurand.com/products/ShapeHand.html

Complete Arm Tracking with ShapeHandPlus
Just add a Measurand Arm ShapeTape to ShapeHand and you get complete arm and hand capture. ShapeHandPlus is the ShapeHand capture system integrated with an arm tracking ShapeTape. ShapeHandPlus tracks complete hand and arm movements and poses including rotations and deviations.

Works with Full Body Motion Capture
ShapeHand works with your existing motion capture system and/or data (full or partial body). Please visit Measurand’s web site and see ShapeHand in use with a Vicon motion capture system: http://www.measurand.com/videos/ShapeHand_with_OS.avi

About ShapeTape
ShapeTape measures and tracks shape, movement, position and orientation. ShapeTape is a fiber optic based 3D bend and twist sensor, that knows where it is continuously along its length, providing accurate position and orientation information, even when in partial or variable contact with an object or person. ShapeTape can be used on its own, built into or attached to a structure, or attached to a person to form real-time 3D computer images and collect data corresponding to complex shapes. A high-speed (10kHz), non-multiplexed version is available for rapid data acquisition.

About ShapeWrap II
ShapeWrap II, the flexible and adaptable motion capture system from Measurand. A great improvement over rigid exoskeletons, ShapeWrap II offers a mocap system based on ShapeTapes that flex. By conforming to limbs instead of following rigid paths, ShapeWrap II moves with the body to capture fine details of shape on a wide variety of body types. ShapeWrap II is field portable, wireless and durable. Individual tapes from ShapeWrap II may be used as multi-variable 6DOF input devices for digital content creation.

Measurand’s ShapeWrap motion capture systems are currently being targeted to the academic markets of 3D animation and game development. ShapeWrap’s unique features and benefits are catapulting it to leader in motion capture training systems.

“I saw a performer who had the tape wrapped around his arms and was using it to control the actions of a simulated 3-D character on screen. If you’ve ever dealt with motion capture systems that involve half-a-dozen cameras and cumbersome tethered body suits, the ShapeWrap idea is very compelling.”
NAB Report, Byte.com

About The NYC XSI User Group
NYC XSI User Group is New York City’s base of Softimage’s XSI 3D Animation software users. The next meeting details are as follows:
- New York, October 24
- 7:00 - 9:00 PM
- Registration: 6:30 PM
- Hosted by XSI NYC
- Presenters: Rainer Schmidt, Introduction to Zbrush; Chinny - Scripting Techniques;
Carl Callewaert, Measurand
- Location: Pratt Institute - Manhattan Campus, Room 213
144 West 14th Street
New York, NY

About Softimage Co.
Softimage Co., a subsidiary of Avid Technology, Inc, is the industry leader in 3-D animation, 2-D cel animation, compositing and special effects software, designed to address the demands of the film and commercial/broadcast and games/interactive industries. SOFTIMAGE®|XSI®, an integral player in Avid’s Make, Manage and Move Media™ strategy, is the flagship product offering from Softimage. XSI is the industry’s first truly nonlinear animation (NLA) system that gives animators and digital artists the freedom to Make professional animation, visual effects and games - from major motion pictures, to cartoons and commercials, to animated content for video games and Web sites. The Softimage product family is designed to help users innovate, create and collaborate throughout the production process.

About Measurand
No newcomer to motion capture and animation, Measurand Inc. is partnered with a number of 3D software developers and has been developing hardware tools and plug-ins for animators and their 3D packages. Measurand, incorporated in 1993, manufactures and sells shape sensors and shape-sensing arrays to a variety of markets including automotive safety, entertainment, education, and research worldwide.

Measurand pioneered the use of 3D flexible arrays of distributed sensors and specializes in quality manufacture of flexible 1D, 2D, and 3D measuring systems based on fiber optics and other technologies. All Measurand sensors are complete, requiring no knowledge of optical technology or addition of electronics for their operation. Measurand’s 2D and 3D sensors measure shape as a data set of positions and orientations along a curve or throughout an area or volume. Our powerful hardware and software products enable the measurement and control of shapes from static poses to high-speed events, in applications as diverse as virtual reality and geo-science.

Contact Information
Robin Palmer
Measurand Inc
Tel: +1(506) 462-9119
Email: robin@measurand.com
www.measurand.com

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