This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project project would develop an affordable data gathering technology that would for the first time enable two or three dimensional motion to be analyzed in real time in the classrooms of physical science, physics, and mathematics. This technology would be applicable to middle school through college teaching. It's unique features would be: real time 6OHz operation for immediate feedback; use of inexpensive, common video camera technology; three dimensional analysis capability; platform independence; affordability. The technology developed would consist of specialized circuitry and software to detect and track objects in the field of view of two video cameras simultaneously, and to compute the nature of the motion in three dimensions. It would also be useful in the study of two dimensional representations of three dimensional phenomena, visualization, and in the mathematics of detection and position analysis. The commercial potential of this innovation is sizable: The analysis of motion is a cornerstone in physics and physical science, taught in tens of thousands of classrooms each year. This potential market is already in place, using much older technologies. Through this innovation a significant benefit could be realized in teaching, and a substantial market reached.
