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MotivePro: a motion capture apparatus

MotivePro is a long-running project to create motion data from user movement for application in a broad number of areas. It was funded by a number of agencies for its development since 2007. These include NESTA (£25k), the Spinner Fund of Advantage West Midlands (£40k) and contributions from Birmingham City University’s REIS. This has led to the securing of a patent, and large scale trial of the device for use in manual handling training in the NHS. The innovation was conceptual as much as technological, moving away from motion capture industry preoccupations with representing movement as visuals to focusing on aural, visual and haptic feedback exchanged between user and computer, creating a dynamic, duplex relationship between body and data.

In addition to the technical work, there has been considerable international media interest, application in the sports arena, and a number of related conference presentations and invitations to speak at a broad range of events, including the Birmingham Science City Digital World conference (2010), the prestigious Association of Dance and Medical Research in Monaco (2010), and the 2nd International Symposium on IT-enabled textiles sponsored by the Korean industrial conglomerate Kolon Industries in December 2012. It has featured prominently in publications like ‘The Engineer’ and tech websites like Gizmodo, Science Daily and Trendhunter as well as popular media like the Daily Mail and Daybreak breakfast television. The device was included in the UK Trade and Investment publication ‘Advanced Engineering’ in 2013. It is now the central apparatus in a £900k research project on nurses’ health conducted by Birmingham City University’s Faculty of Health & Well-being. It will be displayed in the exhibition ‘SCORE’ at Atlanta at the Museum of Design in 2014 and will feature on the Discovery Channel’s ‘Daily Planet’ programme in April next year.