Life sciences
THE MOST TRUSTED
MOCAP ECOSYSTEM
FOR BIOMECHANICS
Designed for life sciences at every level
THE MOST TRUSTED
As trusted by:
We work with the leading Sports teams, Hospitals and Universities to ensure Vicon systems deliver the highest accuracy, flexibility and performance.
Vicon Motion Capture in Action
See how we help customers capture and use motion data to improve performance, reduce injury, assist in rehabilitation, and more.
Watch our video showreel or get in touch to discuss how motion capture can be used for your specific application.
Vicon Motion Capture Gives Athletes an Edge in Saucony Shoes
Take a look at how the Saucony Human Performance and Innovation Lab uses their Vicon motion capture system to improve athlete performance and shoe development with athletes like elite marathon runner, Malindi Elmore. You can read or watch the full story here.
Watch the video
Deep insights into movement for sports, biomechanics, research and more
We provide the hardware – both optical motion capture and inertial sensing – along with the software, tools, devices and accessories to help you build your best-in-class motion capture system. Get the best quality data from the gold standard in motion.
MORE LIFE SCIENCES APPLICATIONS
Vicon’s motion capture systems offer unparalleled flexibility, designed to accommodate any skeleton type and analyze the movement of various species, from horses to sheep and even bees.
Medical professionals of all kinds rely on Vicon’s advanced motion capture systems for clinical gait analysis and rehabilitation, providing invaluable insights into human movement.
Vicon leads the way in motion capture technology for biomechanics, delivering advanced solutions to researchers for tracking and analyzing both human and animal movement.
Vicon stands at the forefront of motion capture for sports science, with our state-of-the-art optical and inertial tracking solutions that cover every aspect of the discipline to provide valuable insight.
FAQ's
What is motion capture (mocap) in life sciences?
| Motion capture (mocap) in life sciences is the measurement of how a body—or any living organism—moves during a single action or a sequence of actions. By accurately recording this movement, mocap provides the essential foundation for understanding how the body moves and what mechanisms or forces are generating that movement. |
How does motion capture work in medical and biological research?
| Motion capture in medical and biological research uses cameras or sensors to precisely track and reconstruct 3D movement, providing data that helps scientists understand how and why living organisms move the way they do. |
What are the main types of motion capture systems used in life sciences?
| There are three main motion capture systems that are used in life sciences.
Marker-based: Passive or active markers are placed on anatomical landmarks so the system can track them and infer skeletal movement. Markerless: Uses video cameras with no markers or sensors on the body; machine-learning models identify and track the skeleton directly. Inertial: Inertial Measurement Units, or IMUs attached to body segments to calculate joint angles and overall movement. |
How accurate is motion capture for tracking human and animal movement?
| Motion capture can be highly accurate—often down to sub-millimeter precision for marker-based systems—making it reliable for tracking both human and animal movement; however, accuracy varies by technology, environment, and subject, with markerless and inertial systems generally offering slightly lower but still robust performance. |
Is motion capture safe for patients, athletes, or animals?
| Yes—motion capture is considered safe, as the technologies used are passive, non-invasive, and typically require only lightweight sensors or no sensors at all |
What software is commonly used to analyze motion capture data?
| At Vicon, Nexus is used to capture and process motion data, while ProCalc helps convert 3D marker positions into a meaningful skeletal model from which joint angles and other biomechanical metrics can be derived. |
What are the limitations of motion capture in life sciences research?
| Motion capture in life sciences provides precise movement data but is limited by accuracy issues, lab-bound setups, environmental sensitivity, participant constraints, high costs, complex data analysis, and its inability to directly measure internal forces or physiology. |
How is motion capture data stored and shared for research purposes?
| The standard format for storing motion capture data is the C3D file. While some companies use proprietary formats, C3D is widely supported across different systems, making it the industry standard for sharing and compatibility in research |
RESOURCES
Everything you need to know to make an informed decision.
Nexus, our life sciences software, has many powerful native skeleton templates for your use
Nexus also enables you to build your own robust custom skeleton templates for reliable labelling
Vicon started in life sciences and developed its offering in partnership with these customers
Theia Markerless
By pairing Vicon technology with Theia Markerless capture we’ve expanded our tracking ecosystem, empowering Life Sciences users to gather data wherever and however they desire.
Opening up access to the developing world of markerless motion capture, Vicon enables you to explore this emerging solution alongside the high quality optical and inertial data gathered by your gold standard Vicon system.
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THINGS YOU DIDN’T KNOW ABOUT VICON IN LIFE SCIENCES
VICON'S LIFE SCIENCES ECOSYSTEM
VICON LIFE SCIENCES SHOWREEL
SYSTEM COMPONENTS
Software
NEXUS
Our renowned software developed specifically for the life sciences community. With Vicon you don’t get a one-size-fits-all approach, we tailor our products to your unique needs.
With it you can:
- Trust your system to capture clinically-validated data
- Carry out powerful analysis and modelling of data
- Save time with highly customisable yet simple processing pipelines
NEXUS INSIGHT
Our newest reporting tool built based on dialogue with our community. Nexus Insight simplifies reporting, saves time, and gives you control of your data, all within Vicon’s best-in-class motion capture ecosystem.
Whether you choose to use our automated reporting tools or create your own custom templates, Nexus Insight will bring clarity to your reporting, making it easier to visualize, interpret, share and compare your data.
Tools
DOWNLOADS
Vicon provides a range of useful tools, utilities and information for our customers that are all fully integrated with our Nexus software. Visit our downloads page to see what’s available:
- Models and scripts – e.g. Oxford Foot Model
- Reporting software – Polygon
- System setup app – Vicon Control
- Third party plugins
- Sample data sets
- Utilities
- SDKs
Cameras
VALKYRIE
Valkyrie is the most powerful motion capture camera ever brought to market, offered with four different specs with four different focuses: resolution, speed, value, and strobeless.
Inertial
BLUE TRIDENT
The next generation of our market-leading IMU, Blue Trident is a lightweight, easy to use, flexible and reliable inertial sensor. From elite to grassroots sports, the improved, form-fitting device can capture the highest load activities and provide immediate real-time analysis in the field.
Capture up to 200g with this dual-sensor inertial device and you immediately have access to data encompassing the peaks of the body’s performance, to measure activity, analyse improvements and chart recovery.
GET IN TOUCH
Vicon motion capture is the most trusted motion capture system for biomechanics. Our team is happy to provide more information, answer questions and help you find the solution you need.