Moiin Group gains US patent recognition for motion capture tech

03 Jan 2020

Korean company says its FBG-based motion capture suits are taking another step towards fully integrated VR ecosystem.

South Korean Company Moiin Group, a developer of virtual reality technologies, has been awarded US patents for its Fiber-Bragg Grating (FBG) motion capture suits. CEO Jae-yun Ok says the company is taking another step “towards having a fully integrated VR ecosystem.”

The company believes that the idea of VR has long captured the minds of consumers, with the proliferation of home- and mobile-based VR equipment, location-based VR theme parks, and other VR-based devices. VR has diverse applications in many industries, including education, defense, and entertainment.

The FBG suits created by the Moiin Group were developed in cooperation with Professor Kim Jin-seok of the Korean Institute of Science and Technology. FBGs and the suite of technologies they represent are considered fourth-generation VR technologies and are intended to make VR more immersive and accessible.

Previous motion capture devices, based on IMUs or cameras, were prohibitively expensive and required significant expertise to operate, a challenge that is being removed with the products from the Moiin Group.

The Moiin Group, led by Ok, has monitored VR technology growth for some time and have identified the choke-points preventing adoption as the burden of installation costs and the limitations inherent to the technologies presented thus far. By focusing on fiber-optic sensors, these installation and maintenance costs can be significantly reduced, which will lead to greater adoption.

The Moiin difference

Many VR systems based on inertial sensor technology incorporate dozens of cameras within a wearer’s workspace to read the wearer’s movements. The more cameras, the more accurate the position values, but the larger the data volume, so that many users are less able to participate simultaneously. Inertial sensor technology can also cause an error rate due to the influence of electromagnetic fields caused by the environment.

In its alternative design, the FBG sensor developed by Moin is a method of recognizing the wearer’s position through the refraction of light in the FBG fiber optic cable. The fiber optic sensor accurately measures joint movement and overcomes the margin of error due to prolonged use. This is a step further from existing products, says the company.

Ok commented, “The suit based on FBG sensors can be shared with many content producers. The company is planning to quickly deliver suites for VR applications in various fields. We expect to achieve a win-win system with diverse VR content companies through this suit. ”

Moiin is planning to conduct demonstrations of the VR suits and other FBG technologies in a roadshow in the United States and other large markets in 2020, in concert with the rollout of key portions of a VR ecosystem, The Oasis City.

• SPIE will be hosting the third annual AR, VR, MR Conference coincident with Photonics West 2020 at the Moscone Center, San Francisco, between February 2nd-4th, 2020. The event will feature must-see presentations and demonstrations from the biggest names in consumer electronics and up-and-coming XR companies.