Mo-Sys Engineering Develops Tracking Kit to Add VR Experiences to Live Sports
Mo-Sys Engineering has announced an interesting approach to bringing the atmosphere back to live sports amid COVID-19 restrictions. Providing precision, zero-latency tracking for any camera (including ultra-long box lenses for sport), the Mo-Sys camera tracking kit interfaces directly to the Unreal Engine or any broadcast render engine, allowing production companies to add virtual crowds to stands.
The Mo-Sys camera tracking encoders are mounted onto broadcast standard Vinten Vector heads, with no impact on the camera’s balance and no backlash when panning and tilting, according to Mo-Sys. Zoom data is collected either by gear encoders or by a serial data link to digital lenses. The combined tracking data is sent over Ethernet to the workstation hosting the augmented reality software.
Mo-Sys has worked with Epic Games to develop a tight interface to the Unreal Engine, including support for the latest version 4.25 software. The result is that augmented reality — crowds filling the stands, for instance — can be integrated into live production. The kit includes the bolt-on encoding kit for Vinten heads and the lens calibration tools.