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Ascension MotionStar
Wireless Boosts Realism in
"The Getaway
| Burlington,
Vermont USA: February
10, 2003: Ascension
Technology’s MotionStar
Wireless®
is taking a bow to applause
generated by the unprecedented
level of realism in The
Getaway. Produced
by Sony Computer
Entertainment Europe’s
Team Soho, Playstation
2’s The Getaway is receiving
worldwide praise for realistic
London street scenes,
frantic car chases, and
highly skilled character
animation. |
 |
Team Soho and Ascension broke
new ground in successfully
tracking the motions of 5
performers at once in real-time.
Each performer was outfitted
with 11 sensors and a transmitter-backpack
which sent data to its own
receiving station. Ascension
also tracked finger and hand
movements with Data Gloves
connected to the backpacks.
Gavin Moore, director of
motion capture for Team Soho,
said they had found “the holy
grail of mocap” when they
were able to match hands and
speech to body motion. “All
credit really has to go to
Ascension for making this
work. Without their help and
their vision, we just couldn’t
have made this possible. Ascension
rewrote software and made
hardware changes to allow
us to put together this most
ambitious of projects,” explained
Moore.
In development for three years,
The Getaway production required
30 days of motion capture
and is the only game ever
to use five motion capture
performers at once. Team Soho
chose real actors for the
production, so the characters’
interaction would be as realistic
as possible. As a result,
many reviews of The Getaway
marvel at the game’s realism,
calling the graphics “sublime”
and the game itself the “peak
of realism” (Epinions, 1-31-03).
Leading game website Tinnud.co.uk
posted outstanding reviews
of The Getaway, noting, “Real
actor likenesses and motion
capture technology blend with
new facial animation for unparalleled
realism.” One review on the
site wrote, “Over an hour’s
worth of compelling, movie-quality
cut-scenes move the narrative
along, delivered in a cinematic
style that will engross you
and drag you yet further into
the dark and frightening world
of organized crime.”
MotionStar tracks the real-time
position and orientation of
human performers using DC
magnetic field technology.
It captures movement in six
degrees-of-freedom without
optical line-of-sight restrictions.
With MotionStar’s versatility,
game developers have a cost-effective
way to duplicate the fast-paced
interaction for which The
Getaway is earning so much
attention. Sony is already
starting The Getaway 2.
Ascension Technology Corporation,
headquartered in Burlington,
Vermont, pioneers magnetic,
optical and inertial motion
tracking technologies for
3D computer graphics applications.
MotionStar and MotionStar
Wireless have been used in
landmark animated productions
such as Star Wars prequels,
Roughnecks: Starship Troopers,
Roswell, and the Imax CyberWorld
3D promotional campaign.
-- end --
For Immediate Release
Contact: Jack Scully (802)
893-6657 or e-mail: jscully@ascension-tech.com
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