How to connect a video camera to Qualisys Track Manager (QTM)

Many times you want video footage besides kinematic data. The video that you can get from Qualisys Oqus cameras might be super large in size and many times, as the cameras are mounted at height, yo may not capture the video from sideways (normally for gait analysis). Qualisys itself suggested Blackmagic Intensity Pro card to connect non-FireWire cameras. Using the card, you will connect the output of your camera (component, one yellow video and two read and white audio output) to the card and on the other side, you will connect the card to your computer with QTM installed on it. With a price of 200$, it does not seem to be a good option.
Here is a cheaper option:
You need:
1- One Audio-Video Grabber: Basically, it is the cheaper and simpler version of Blackmagic (£7).

2- Component cables of your video camera: Almost all cameras have this useless cables. With the introduction of HDMI, almost no one uses them anymore. If you want to have higher quality video with this method, you have to buy an HDMI adapter for AV Grabber as well (I did not test this).

Here is what you have to do:
1- I was using QTM 2.11 on a 64bits Windows 7. I connected the AV grabber to the computer and it started to recognize the USB. The driver was not successfully installed and I did not have any CD.
2- I downloaded EasyCap W7 Driver here (alternative link) and extracted the folder on my PC.
3- Right click on My Copmputer > Properties > Device Manager
4- In your Other devices, you see USB 2.0 Video Capture Controller, with no installed driver. Right click on it and select "Update Driver Software" and then "Browse my computer for driver software", then hit "Browse" and locate the folder you already extracted on your PC. Proceed forward and ignore the "Windows Security" warning by selecting "Install this driver software anyway".
5- After installing the driver, unplug the USB cable. Now turn on your video camera and adjust the output settings (select to transfer images to component output), connect the component cable to the camera and USB, and finally connect the USB to your computer.
6- Now open QTM and go to "Tools > Project Options > Input Devices" and select "USB2.0 ATV" from the right side with a green light saying that it is enabled.
You can now enjoy the cheap solution. You can use your video camera as a Skype camera as well.

tested by Pooya Soltani

Read More

Exergame evaluation design

Good systematic review. It mentioned parameters that are good to be considered.
Peng, W., Crouse, J. C., & Lin, J. (2013). Using Active Video Games for Physical Activity Promotion: A Systematic Review of the Current State of Research. Health Education & Behavior, 40(2), 171-192.
Link: http://heb.sagepub.com/content/40/2/171.full.pdf+html

Read More

Game screening

Subjective info provided by game assessment: This is not really provided by the evaluator but people can put this info in a separate part in the game or their console to know if playing exergames are risky or not. Health screening such as medical history questionnaire (Physical Activity Readiness Questionnaire or PAR-Q) or a review of their chronic disease risk factors. A general health history usually includes occupation, extended periods of sitting, or repetitive movements. In lifestyle, they might provide information on what they do for recreation and what are their hobbies. On medical history, they might give information on their past injuries and surgeries. Game designers might use such information to suggest if a certain game is helpful or hazardous for certain players. They may also list their Chronic Conditions and this is quite important as most of the game titles involve repetitive movements and it's good to know if playing those games can actually help to overcome the issue (e.g. obesity).
Objective information might be as of interest of those game developers who are into making health and fitness games. During game evaluation, one might measure resting and exercise physiological measurements (e.g., blood pressure, heart rate), resting anthropometric measurements (e.g., height, weight, body fat percentage, circumference measurements), and specific measures of fitness (e.g., muscular endurance, flexibility, cardiorespiratory fitness). measuring body composition for selected volunteers and use the information during the game design phase ensure safe play. Postural test can also be used during prototype testing.

...essentials of personal fi tness...

Read More

Human movement evaluation needs an ergonomic approach!
1981

Read More

Environment setup

I just read a paper entitled "Evaluation of the Kinect™ sensor for 3-D kinematic measurement in the workplace". Since the passive systems (e.g. Vicon or Qualisys) are expensive and bulky, Kinect could be good alternative.

In the object detection, they were saying:

The Kinect had trouble detecting dark surfaces that absorbed light. It was also blind to shiny surfaces that resulted in specular reflection and even rough surfaces if the angle of incidence of incoming light was too large.

As at the first step, it looks like a great cheat code during playing Exergames (playing semi-naked if you are not not sure what to wear), this feature is very important in performance analysis in Exergames. This setup requirement plays a key role in detecting novice and experienced players.

Read More

Serious Game Informatics

I read a paper titled "Accessible Telehealth - Leveraging Consumer-level Technologies and Social Networking Functionalities for Senior Care" and I thought how come would it be related to Exergames. I started to read it anyway. It was saying that most of the time people don't know about the symptoms of a disease or they don't know how much physical activity is needed. The personal health informatic section is also getting costly. Using serious games and particularly using social networks can be a good alternative to know more about their health and participate and learn new thing through gaming and having fun.
They were arguing that "lack of content" is one of the things that makes the Exergames boring after some time. They first came with the idea of "replacement for physical activity" but in action we saw that they don't increase the levels of physical activity in long term usage.

Read More

long term enjoyment

Just read a paper on "The Effect of Exergaming on Vascular Function in Children*". In this paper, they also assessed level of enjoyment with PACES questionnaire within Hi-intensity and Low-intensity Exergaming. Having relatively same results for both conditions, authors concluded that children enjoyed them the same.
I believe, this sense of achieving and accomplishing is illusory. I believe long term considerations of enjoyment will show different results.


*: Andrew Mills, Michael Rosenberg, Gareth Stratton, Howard H. Carter, Angela L. Spence, Christopher J.A. Pugh, Daniel J. Green, Louise H. Naylor, The Effect of Exergaming on Vascular Function in Children, The Journal of Pediatrics. (http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022347613003958)

Read More