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Ascension Hosts
Filming of Maine PBS’s “Quest”
Episode
Burlington, Vermont
USA; April 1, 2003: Ascension
Technology, based
in Milton, VT, has just hosted
the filming of an exciting
episode of Maine PBS’s
“QUEST”, a northern
New England regional television
series. The episode shows
how Ascension and
Innovative Sports Training’s
(IST) of Chicago,
IL, have teamed up to apply
their high tech products to
solving real-world problems,
such as improving a golfer’s
swing.
For QUEST, IST’s performance
enhancement system,
The MotionMonitor®,
was used to analyze program
host Linda Greenlaw’s golf
swing. The MotionMonitor uses
Ascension’s MotionStar®
tracker to collect
complex 3D data on human movement.
PGA Tour Instructor
Michael Bentley joined
Greenlaw for this state-of-the-art
lesson, explaining what the
data revealed about her swing
and offering instruction for
improvement.
The MotionMonitor’s “Swing
Trainer™” provides data on
golfer characteristics such
as shoulder rotation, club
speed, balance, center of
mass, etc. With MotionStar
sensors attached to her head,
arms, legs and torso, Greenlaw’s
movements were tracked by
MotionStar, transmitted to
the MotionMonitor, and instantly
transformed on screen into
an exactly proportional 3D
skeletal model. At the same
time, the system gathered
precise swing and force measurements
for comparative data with
which Bentley could analyze
and adjust Greenlaw’s swing.
The Emmy award-winning QUEST
series receives major funding
from the National Science
Foundation. Other financial
supporters include the Maine
Department of Inland Fisheries
and Wildlife, the Maine Forest
Products Council, and Irving
Woodlands.
Each episode tells intriguing
stories about science and
nature in Maine, New Hampshire
and Vermont. Linda Greenlaw,
a New York Times best-selling
author and former swordboat
captain, hosts the series.
Laura Ozment Schenck produced
the episode recently filmed
at Ascension. Air date for
the episode has not yet been
announced.
Microprocessor Designs
of Shelburne, VT, was instrumental
in developing the software
that turns The MotionMonitor
into The Swing Trainer featured
in this program. Jeff Finkelstein,
president of Microprocessor
Designs, was on hand to assist
IST president Lee Johnson
and the Ascension team during
the filming.
Company Background
The MotionMonitor is a powerful
research tool combining motion
tracking with sophisticated
software for use in a broad
range of applications from
sports training and physical
rehabilitation to industrial
lifting instruction. For more
information about Innovative
Sports Training visit www.innsport.com.
Microprocessor Designs specializes
in micro-processor based product
design and development from
the concept phase through
manufacturing, providing hardware,
firmware and software expertise
for clients in the US and
Canada. For more information
about Microprocessor Designs,
visit www.updesigns.com.
Michael D. Bentley, CEO of
Bentley Sports Inc., is a
PGA Tour Instructor and Director
of the Okemo Valley Golf Academy
in Ludlow, VT. For more information
about Bentley Sports, visit
www.bentleysports.com.
QUEST is produced by Maine
PBS and airs on Maine PBS,
Vermont Public Television
and New Hampshire Public Television.
For more information, visit
www.mainepbs.org/quest.
Ascension Technology Corporation
develops magnetic, optical
and inertial motion-tracking
solutions for 3D computer-graphics
applications in military targeting
systems, simulation, virtual
reality, biomechanics, animation
and medicine. For more information,
visit www.ascension-tech.com.
-end-
For Immediate Release
Contact: Jack Scully (802)
893-6657 or e-mail: jscully@ascension-tech.com
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