Motion Tracking for Medical VR with Polhemus

Motion tracking technology allows the position of real world objects, including you, to be represented in virtual worlds. Precisely registering the position and orientation of your head, body, limbs and even fingers gives you a sense of self called proprioception that is key to making your mind believe that your body is present in another place. Motion tracking is also key for VR because it allows you to naturally move through and interact with virtual worlds in the same manner that you do in the real world. This month we're focusing on healthcare applications so now imagine how important this precise tracking technology is for training surgeons!

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Polhemus (http://polhemus.com) was one of the very first companies involved in VR, having pioneered motion tracking over 40 years ago. The original application for our 6DOF trackers was pilot head tracking for the U.S. Military—something we still do today. And today our AC magnetic tracking technology is used in applications in Virtual Reality, Biomechanics, CAD/CAM, Neuroscience, Motion Capture, Health Care, and more.

Healthcare simulation is progressing rapidly, and is expected to grow at about 20% CAGR over the next 5 years. This is due in large part to increased focus on patient safety, rising costs of healthcare, and increased use of minimally invasive procedures. Simulation methods established in aviation and the military are now making their way into healthcare training. From a technology standpoint, the use of VR and AR in healthcare simulators is growing even more significantly. A quick review of products from the major healthcare simulator manufacturers will show high fidelity mannequins that have pulses, breathe, groan with pain and even excrete fluids. These VR and AR trainers are often coupled with 6DOF tracked probes which drive hyper realistic graphics of virtual anatomy.

Neil Schell, Director of Business Development for Research and Technology Applications, will give a brief description of the technology, its pros and cons, and demos of various trackers with an emphasis on industrial and medical VR training simulators.

As usual we'll have lots of VR demos from our talented group of Boston VR developers. If you've never tried VR before this is a perfect opportunity to try a wide variety of experiences. If you're a seasoned pro already living in the virtual world it's a great opportunity to learn from our developers!

IMPORTANT: Our venue, the Venture Cafe at the Cambridge Innovation Center, requires us to provide a guest list so people can check in at the security desk to get their access cards. Please bring a photo ID for check-in at the security desk. Your meetup.com account name must match the name on your ID; if you'd prefer not to use your real name please contact Jeff Bail via private message.

Schedule

6 - Doors open, demos begin, pizza is served thanks to Polhemus

7 - 7:45 - Polhemus Presentation

7:45 - 8:15 - Demo intros & announcements

8:15 - 9:45 Demofest!!

9:45pm - Come with us to the afterparty at Firebrand Saints (http://firebrandsaints.com) (it's right downstairs!!)

Parking

If you're coming to the afterparty, Firebrand Saints (http://firebrandsaints.com) offers free validated parking for entry after 5pm.

Free parking after 5pm in the MIT Hayward Lot (http://web.mit.edu/mitdlbc/www/parking.htm).