Quantifying the Impact of Integrating the HTC Vive Tracker with the Awinda Motion Capture System in Minimizing Positional Drift

Abstract

Inertial measurement unit (IMU) based systems are considered a very attractive solution for human motion capture. However, these systems suffer from significant drift when it comes to positional tracking due to the nature of the IMU technology. This study aimed to quantify the positional accuracy of the MVN Awinda motion capture system after its integration with a single HTC Vive tracker. The integration aims to leverage the strengths of both systems, enhancing accuracy, precision, and adaptability in motion capture technology. Our experimental protocol focused on evaluating the drift under two conditions: performing an in-place repetitive motion such as squatting and performing a repetitive walking-based task while circulating in between specific checkpoints. Our findings revealed a significant positional error reduction (p < 0.001) in terms of walking-based tasks after integrating the Vive tracker. The positional drift with the assistance of the tracker had an average of 56.27 mm while the exclusion of the tracker yielded an average drift of 218.64 mm. On the other hand, the inclusion of the tracker in the in-place task did not lead to any improvement in terms of positional drift, but rather showed that the inclusion of the tracker in such tasks is not advised. © 2024 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.