UNC, 3rdTech Join to Create Tracking System

Staff Writer

The HiBall-3000 Tracker.

It's not a devious invention by the Alcohol Law Enforcement to track how many drinks an underage student has had on Franklin Street.

It's a new technology developed by the University's Department of Computer Science. The tracking system is a way of visually monitoring how and where the user moves in a room and can be used for virtual reality, entertainment and even medical purposes.

"It's the best in the world," said Henry Fuchs, a computer science professor. "Ask anyone in Japan or Europe, and they'll agree."

The University licensed 3rdTech Inc., a lab tucked away in a building on 119 E. Franklin St., to market the technology so the company could apply it to the practical world. "There have been all kinds of people that have been wanting to have (a HiBall tracker)," Fuchs said. "But we're not in a position to make copies of it and do research at the same time."

The HiBall-3000 Tracker, a black, five-ounce device slightly taller than a golf ball is the latest development in tracking systems. It is the only tracking system of its kind in the world.

Doug Schiff, vice president of 3rdTech, said that although tracking systems have existed for years, this particular system is superior to older magnetic trackers. Those trackers have magnetic fields that get disturbed by any kind of metal in the space and have a limited area.

But because the HiBall tracker is not made of metal, it does not suffer distortions in its tracking and also can track areas as large as 40 feet by 40 feet.

With it, a user can see a room on a computer screen and walk around in it viewing objects from in front and behind as if the user were in real space.

The way it works is that infrared light-emitting diodes, called LEDs, are installed in the ceiling panels to provide grid points that help map the entire room.

The HiBall Tracker, which can be mounted on the head with head gear, has six photodiodes in it that pick up light from all of the LEDs. The lenses transmit the information to a computer, which then calculates the tracker's position and orientation in the room.

The computer could then project a physical image of the viewer's position and orientation onto a screen.

The lenses track not only x-,y- and z- axis positions, they also use three aviation techniques. Those techniques allow the user to turn his or her head, duck, jump or turn around without distorting the image on the screen.

Nick England, 3rdTech president and CEO, said applicable uses for the HiBall tracking system have extended even further than the company's creative minds.

"We thought the application would mostly be with virtual reality," he said.

But not only could the system be used for virtual reality, entertainment or video conferencing, doctors have expressed interest in using it to track beams precisely in cancer patients' heads that would eliminate tumors.

The price for the system ranges from $28,000 for a modest 12-foot-by-12-foot area to $150,000 for the 40-foot-by-40-foot model. "We've received orders for our first three systems," Schiff said, "And we anticipate a lot more."

Tim Quigg, the department's associate chairman for administration and finance, said the University will have a symbiotic relationship with 3rdTech, receiving 2.5 percent of all its net sales as well as publicity and recognition. In addition, any improvements in the system that either group makes to the HiBall tracker will be shared with the other.

And both groups have reason to celebrate their partnership. Last week, the electronics magazine Computer Graphics World awarded 3rdTech its Year 2000 Innovation Award for the HiBall tracker, one of 21 selected from hundreds of nominations.

Fuchs said the cooperation between the University and 3rdTech Inc. will successfully lead to applying technology.

"I think the indications are positive that we are getting technology out to people."

The City Editor can be reached

at citydesk@unc.edu.