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Motion/Position Sensors and Instrumentation Real-Time Tracking of the Physical Environment
	Tracker Technologies Position tracking can have many levels, from measuring head orientation down to measuring individual fingers.  Position tracking allows one to get a sense of their own presence within the synthetic environment, as well as their virtual limits within the simulation. Position tracking implies both position and/or orientation tracking.  The simplest position trackers are the joystick and mouse, which are planar devices.  The minimal position tracker discussed here will be able to measure at least three degrees of freedom (DOF) simultaneously in space.  There are many ways to track position: Magnetic, Optical, Acoustic, Mechan­ical, and Inertial. Magnetic - Currently, magnetic trackers are the most widely used.   They utilize an emitter and detector configuration. The emitter is attached to the environment and emits orthogonal magnetic fields. Optical - There are many ways to track objects optically; however, all depend on light in some way.  Some systems are passive, and take in the ambient light and process it, while other systems actively scan the scene with lasers. Acoustic - Use ultrasonic sound emitted by a radiator (high frequency speaker) and received by special microphones.  Either the emitters or receivers can be mounted on the moving object(s).  A single emitter and receiver can measure the distance to an object. Mechanical - Also known as goniometers or exoskeletons, measure a person's limb posi­tions via mechanical linkages.  The exo­skeleton must be physically attached to the user. Inertial - Measuring the accelerations on masses (accelerometers) or the orientation of spinning masses (gyroscopes).  Integrated circuit technology has advanced to the point where these sensors are small enough to be used in human position tracking.  Linear accel­erometer and gyroscopic information are subject to drift, which can be auto-corrected by "sensor fusion," i.e. utilizing multiple types of sensors. Position Trackers / University of Utah / by James.Kolozs / revised 5-28-1996		TRACKERS Product ID Product Information Go to Acoustic Trackers AuHTU210 Logitech Ultrasonic 6DOF Headtracker 3D (250 dpi) and 2D (400 dpi) modes; update rate-50 reports/sec, tracking speed- 30 inches/sec, tracking space: 5 ft. tall, 100° cone   BUY ON-LINE Inertial Trackers AuHTI213 InterSense InertiaCube3 3DOF orientation tracker Inertial, source-less, head-phone mountable, RS-232 or USB interface LEARN MORE BUY ON-LINE AuHTI212 InterSense InertiaCube2 3DOF orientation tracker Inertial, source-less, head-phone mountable, RS-232 interface LEARN MORE BUY ON-LINE AuHTI312 InterSense InterTrax II 3DOF orientation tracker Inertial, source-less, head-phone mountable; option of RS-232 or USB interface LEARN MORE BUY ON-LINE Magnetic Trackers AuHTE140 Polhemus Fastrak 6DOF position tracker includes one sensor, upgradeable to four LEARN MORE BUY ON-LINE AuHTE216 Polhemus Liberty Tracker 16-channels, 240 updates / sec / sensor LEARN MORE BUY ON-LINE AuHTE220 Polhemus Patriot Tracker dual-sensor, 60Hz updates LEARN MORE BUY ON-LINE AuHTE284 Polhemus Liberty Tracker 4-channels, 240 updates / sec / sensor LEARN MORE BUY ON-LINE AuHTE288 Polhemus Liberty Tracker 8-channels, 240 updates / sec / sensor LEARN MORE BUY ON-LINE AuHTE901 Polhemus standard electromagnetic sensor (RX1) 18mm X 24mm X 28mm LEARN MORE BUY ON-LINE AuHTE905 Polhemus compact electromagnetic sensor (RX1-C) 4mm X 4mm X 8mm LEARN MORE BUY ON-LINE AuHTE914 Polhemus 4-inch electromagnetic transmitter (TX4) Intermediate range (1-2 meters) LEARN MORE BUY ON-LINE

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