A UK printing company has developed an innovative new studio camera navigation system that it claims is more accurate than any current set-ups and will retail for a 10th of the price of its competitors, writes Sam Espensen.
Blue Eye is a high-resolution camera-based tracking system that can be mounted to any movable device - like a dolly - and "reads" a floor covering that is digitally encoded in "barcode-like" patches.
The product has been designed to provide "absolute position and orientation data", according to maker Centurfax. Speaking to Broadcast, managing director Bob Leslie said that Blue Eye "will significantly expand the production opportunities for bluescreen virtual production".
His company has funded development of Blue Eye for two years after winning a government Smart Award for innovation.
Centurfax sales director Martin Elmy commented that Blue Eye definitely beats it competitors in at least one way: "Other systems often need re-calibration. And this never does. It reads exact locations all the time." Blue Eye's flooring is portable, and the sensor costs are the same whatever the size of the area. It does not need expert laying and can be set up in most environments quickly. Other companies are working on similar offerings. The BBC has been developing a similar mushroom-shaped ceiling-mounted navigation system, which will first be used for the show Fightbox, and an unnamed Israeli company is also developing something similar. Blue Eye will be officially launched at IBC later in the year.
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