People are sometimes surprised to find out that they are AiQ Synertial’s main focus. As motion capture specialists we’re a tech company, but it’s people and what they need that drive what we do.
When we launched our G6 range last year, it was the result of many years of R&D. We spent a lot of time listening to people so that we could really understand their priorities, requirements and concerns. We discovered that more than ever, peoples’ focus is on improving their processes. When using
mocap, everyone wants sessions to be shorter – more efficient, more economical and therefore more productive. Animation studios, for instance, need to ensure they’re competitive as well as at the top of their game in terms of the tech they choose.
By a happy accident, the G6 gloves developed to become one size fits all – which means our customers only need to purchase one pair rather than multiples to suit each mocap actor’s hand size.
In fact, AiQ Synertial weren’t trying to develop a single solution to suit everyone at all. During our experiments with optical solutions, we discovered that not only could we create an IMU-based hybrid system that utilises the best that optical systems have to offer, but that we could also exploit the
nature of the equipment we use to develop a universal solution.
We partner with Taiwan-based AiQ Smart Clothing. Their expertise is literally woven into their products and that’s allowed us to introduce two key features that have revolutionised our sizing system – and our customers’ experiences.
Firstly, the G6 range incorporates stretchy cables that are integrated with the product fabric. And because that’s a “second-skin” fabric, the gloves and suits hug the wearer’s body whilst remaining light, comfortable and wearable. The products evolved around specific technologies and materials that we already use.
As AiQ Synertial’s Chief Technology Officer, I had to really up my game to develop the G6 range.
I was PC-literate from the mid 1980s – not via school-based formal learning, but because I was lucky enough to apprentice with a mechanical genius who made amazing prototypes cheaply and quickly. He taught me how to be methodical as well as fearless and creative - nothing would scare him away
from an opportunity to map a clever new invention (using da Vinci-like drawings and diagrams). Truth be told, this was hell for me to work with, but it was a tremendous education. For instance, I learnt to build an electronic goniometer from scratch. Adding PC applications to his master imagineering
created the digital goniometer, which led to the birth of exo-skeletal mocap.
I started the hard way, and this groundwork laid the foundation for both my mechanical know-how and my ability to envision and innovate.
To develop the G6 gloves, I needed to thoroughly understand optical systems - how they work, their positives and challenges during capture sessions well as the sequencing and the processing of the data. Having previously only needed to fit our processes to our own products, combining optical processes with our hardware was a real learning curve – but we learnt how to seamlessly
integrate our own operations into optical mocap volume.
Now that we know how to capture optical systems., AiQ Synertial will not design anything that doesn’t fit into the optical protocol. I estimate that because we are now really familiar with how to work with them, any future product development will take us half the time of the G6 development – as
with our recent glove integration with OptiTrack Motive software. It’s extremely satisfying to me from both an innovation and business perspective to reflect that the process has allowed us to refine our own working processes as well as created a product that really is fit for purpose.
I’m delighted by G6 gloves’ usability. I’ve observed many actors put on mocap gloves and feel excited and invigorated by wearable tech – but all too soon, the weight becomes too much, impeding progress.
Wearers forget they have the G6 on because not only are they extremely comfortable, but the heavy power and the processing is separated from the glove (it’s worn on your back), meaning users’ fingers are completely unencumbered. Because our gloves’ processing systems are separated from the glove itself, you don’t feel like you’re in a mocap session: hands and fingers are free to move naturally and spontaneously and to make minute, detailed gestures.
One of my current projects is the development of documentation and videos that guide G6 customers through their usage, especially the gloves’ other unique feature. All other mocap gloves are totally integrated - if one component ceases to function optimally or needs adjustment, the entire system is affected. Users of the G6, however, are able to change the electronics from one glove to another. This revolutionary characteristic not only adds significantly to their functionality, but it gives people confidence in the product and its ease of use.
I’ve been working with mocap for 27 years now and am sometimes asked what I’d do anything differently with the benefit of hindsight.
Of course, there will always be challenges. For instance, our R&D-natured background means that as a company, we want to push to make the very best products we can, whereas our manufacturers need us to rein in the vision and finalise what we’ve done. But I wouldn’t do any of what AiQ Synertial has achieved any differently. The G6 range was a direct result of consolidating earlier prototypes that became mocap product ranges in their own right: our MO is taking what we’ve learnt and refining our approach to meet customers’ evolving needs.
So the G6 range, including the gloves, represents not just an advancement in technology but a culmination of feedback and insights gathered from our clients. We want to supply our users with tools that help them stay competitive and excel in their fields. AiQ Synertial, is not just about the
technology we create - but our ability to continually adapt and evolve to support the people who use it.
Comments