Sony has debuted its new Ocellus camera tracking system.
Designed to facilitate the creation of spatial content in augmented reality and virtual production, Ocellus (ASR-CT1) provides stable marker-free camera tracking for both cinema and broadcast applications.
Camera agnostic, the system comprises a sensor unit, processing box and three lens encoders. A reference map is created using the five image sensors and Sony’s Visual SLAM (Simultaneous Localization and Mapping) technology, which aims to enable marker-free tracking both indoors and outdoors.
When paired with Sony cameras, focus, iris and zoom value metadata is obtained via the camera’s SDI output and transmitted to external devices via Ethernet cable. For cameras that do not support metadata acquisition, lens encoders can be affixed, with the acquired metadata then able to be used for AR and VP. Tracking data, camera/lens metadata, timecode and file name can also be recorded for use in post production workflows.
Key features of the sensor box include:
- Four of the five image sensors on the unit are selected to use, providing stable marker-free tracking and high occlusion resistance
- If at least one image sensor in use captures valid feature points, tracking data can be extracted
- IR LEDs on both sides of each image sensor help tracking in low-light environments
- Visible Light Cut Unit included for stable tracking in environments with frequent lighting changes
- Sensor unit dimensions: approx. 86 mm × 60 mm × 43 mm (W × H × D) (3.39″ × 2.36″ × 1.69″), weight: approx. 250 g
- Easy installation and position adjustment using the NATO rail mounting parts (included)
The processing box enables real-time transmission of tracking data and lens metadata to CG rendering software in free-d format, said Sony. The solution features Genlock input, Timecode input, SDI input/output terminals and lens encoder connection terminals along with an OLED display and more. Recorded data and metadata are supported as FBX files on SDXC memory cards (UHS-II/UHS-I) synchronised with video files of main camera.
Five different types of gears are provided by the lens encoder. Detected data is transmitted to the processing box via LEMO 7-pin cable, said Sony.
