FOR IMMEDIATE
RELEASE
February 25, 2010
Contact:
Elizabeth Blevins, Director, Office of Communications
Office: (740) 351-3810; FAX: (740) 351-3179; Cell: (740) 464-4854
940 Second Street – Portsmouth, Ohio 45662
E-mail: eblevins@shawnee.edu
Web site: www.shawnee.edu
Avatars? Shawnee State University has opened a new
Motion Capture Lab with the capability of creating its own
avatars. The lab was dedicated on Friday, Feb. 19 at SSU’s
Advanced Technology Center. Assisting with the ribbon
cutting were, from left, Professor Carl Hilgarth, chair of
Industrial and Engineering Technology, Tom Stead, retired
chair and adjunct faculty of SSU’s Fine, Digital and
Performing Arts Department, 2nd Congressional District
Congresswoman Jean Schmidt, Provost David Todt, President
Rita Rice Morris, Dr. Dean Scheurer, dean of the College of
Arts and Sciences, (hidden) Dr. James Kader, dean of the
College of Professional Studies and Eric Braun, director of
the Department of Development. . In back, is senior student
Nick Compton who helped demonstrate how motion capture
works. It is one of only two motion capture studios in the
state of Ohio.
Motion Capture Lab Dedicated at Shawnee State University
Have you seen the hit movie “Avatar”? At Shawnee State
University, a Motion Capture Lab opened that has the
capability of creating its own “avatars.”
On Friday,
Feb. 19, the new Motion Capture (MOCAP) Lab was dedicated
and officially opened. The Motion Capture Lab is a component
of the Immersive Technology and Arts Center (ITAC) being
established in the university’s Advanced Technology Center.
The MOCAP lab
comprises of a PhaseSpace 32-camera system, supporting
computers, and software housed in a specially configured
room with walls painted a non-photo green to provide a
neutral image background.
The digital
simulation and the gaming arts degree programs will use the
lab as an instructional lab enabling SSU students to work
with a commercial state-of-the art motion capture system
that is used in interactive media and engineering
applications.
“Motion
Capture is a critical addition to our gaming and simulation
programs and is a vital step in our plans to develop an
Immersive Technology and Arts Center — or ITAC, as most of
you have referred to it,” SSU President Rita Rice Morris
said. “Our Motion Capture Studio, as part of the future ITAC,
will contribute to the creation of 21st century jobs in
southern Ohio, particularly in the emerging gaming
industry.”
The lab
functions using a person wearing a suit equipped with active
LED markers, who then engages in body movements. As the
person moves, his/her movements are captured as a function
of the movement and position of their body markers. The
movements are imported into a computer equipped with motion
capture software, and then inserted into a software program
to animate an avatar or other figure.
In addition
to human subjects, the system can also be applied to the
motion of mechanical and robotic devices. Other system
applications include areas such as occupational therapy,
physical therapy, nursing, athletic training and vocational
training, in short, any area where the study of body
movement is involved. Additional work is underway on the
facility to provide for computers and for video editing and
sound synthesis and capture.
The
university is planning to make the facility available
outside the university to firms who are looking to do motion
capture. The vision is that the facility would promote
economic development in southeastern Ohio by encouraging
high technology enterprises to come to the area, as well as
encouraging start-up companies.
To move in
this direction, the MOCAP Lab has been proposed as a
component of the Center of Excellence presented by Shawnee
State to the Ohio Board of Regents. Through this concept,
the digital programs the university offers can be expanded
to promote a state-wide and national presence of the
simulation technology and gaming arts programs, support
regional economic development, and establish south-central
Ohio as a significant player in the information and
digital-driven national and global economy of the 21st
Century.
In addition
to being supported by the university, MOCAP has been made
possible by donations from the community to Shawnee State
through its Development Foundation, and state and federal
funds.
For
additional information regarding the facility, please
contact Carl Hilgarth, professor and department chair,
Engineering Technologies, e-mail
chilgarth@shawnee.edu
or call (740) 351-3595 or Greg Lyons, assistant professor
and department chair, Fine, Digital & Performing Arts,
e-mail
glyons@shawnee.edu or call (740) 351-3004.
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