3D motion tracking company Xsens has launched MVN Analyze 2018, which uses sensors to create a 3D kinematic sequence of a body to identify when an athlete is overcompensating and could be at risk of injury.
“Performance improvement is all about getting the most out of an athlete without risking injury,” said Hein Beute, a product manager at Xsens. “If athletes do get injured, this technology can help them with rehabilitation.”
The 2018 version of MVN Analyze brings the technology outside the lab. To do this, the company had to lessen the effect metal has on the readings. Magnetic distortion disrupts data capture and creates variables, when the data should have been controlled.
“Now we can go anywhere because we can better handle magnetic distortions,” said Aristo Wong, a Product Manager with Xsens. “Take a UFC fighter as an example, they are surrounded by metal, now we can go into that environment and take accurate readings.”
The ability to leave the lab and run tests out in the field is crucial for sports data.
“People don’t want to do research in labs as opposed to a natural environment,” Beute said. “If you want to capture data from a football (soccer) player, they will feel more natural on the pitch than in a studio.”
This further increases the accuracy of the data. The goal of the 2018 iteration of the product was to improve the consistency of the engine.
“In general the motion capture you do is very consistent,” Beute said. “Scientists want to know that every time they capture data it will be the same.”
Sports fans may recognize the MVN Analyze sensors and software from Sports Science. The company has been used to capture the data of athletes on the show. In the linked episode, undersized point guard Isaiah Thomas ducks under a limbo bar and shoots a floater over a wooden structure.
The MVN Analyze software calculates his center of mass as he goes under the bar and the launch angle of his subsequent floater. This only scratches the surface of what the software is used for. “There are still lots of applications to develop or build upon this technology,” Wong said.