Oxford Metrics Regulatory News (OMG)

15 Oct 2009 09:00



15 October 2009

OMG plc

("OMG" or the "Group")

IP License Agreement with Microsoft

- Vicon signs license agreement with Microsoft to develop new medical technology - 

OMG plc, Oxford Metrics Group (LSE: OMG), ("OMG" or "the Group") the technology group providing image understanding products for the entertainment, defence, life science and engineering industries announced today that it has signed an intellectual property ("IP") license agreement with Microsoft Corp.

The agreement will allow the Group's Vicon arm, which develops motion capture products for the life science, engineering and entertainment industries, to manufacture and sell devices incorporating Microsoft's SenseCam technology worldwide. 

SenseCam is a wearable digital camera that takes photographs automatically, without user intervention. Developed by Microsoft Research Cambridge, the device is most commonly used by medical researchers as an aid for people with memory loss, but has great potential in a number of different application areas. Research into these areas will be possible now that it will be more widely available.

Vicon will unveil a new device, which is based on the existing SenseCam technology on its stand #1413 at the annual Neuroscience Conference in Chicago on 17-21 October. 

Ahead of the device launch OMG plc Chief Executive Officer, Nick Bolton, said: 

"I'd like to thank Microsoft and Microsoft Research Cambridge for allowing Vicon to get involved in such an important product that can support a variety of researchers, including those investigating memory-loss. It's an honour to work with Microsoft and to build on the amazing work they have done with SenseCam over the past five years.

"This IP license agreement means we're the first company to be able to deliver Microsoft's ground breaking technology to a wider audience. All of us at OMG look forward to working closely with Microsoft and the researchers that have been using SenseCam Project technology and continuing to move it forward."

Andrew Herbert, Distinguished Engineer and Managing Director, Microsoft Research Cambridge said: 

"Microsoft's willingness to license intellectual property arising from its research enables partner companies to bring innovative products to market.  This agreement represents the next stage in the life of SenseCam and will bring the device to a broader community."

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About OMG plc and Vicon

Academy Award®-winning Vicon is the world's largest supplier of precision motion tracking systems, and match moving software. It serves customers in the CG animation industry, film, visual effects, computer games, and broadcast television, as well as engineering and life science industries. Vicon operates in four offices worldwide, including its Los Angeles-based Entertainment headquarters: a 26,000 square-foot facility equipped with three performance capture stages for Vicon's service company House of Moves. 

Vicon is a subsidiary of OMG (Oxford Metrics Group - LSE: OMG), plc., a group of technology companies that produces image understanding solutions for the Entertainment, Defence, Life Science and Engineering markets. Other holdings include: 2d3, a manufacturer of specialised image understanding software for defence applications; Yotta DCL our highways surveying business in the UK; and Yotta MVS, a leading US provider of data collection services for the assessment of property taxation.

Vicon and OMG global clients include: Life Science leaders University of Pennsylvania, the VA Hospitals, Shriners Hospitals for Children, Titleist Golf, The Andrews Institute; Engineering industry leaders Ford, BMW, Airbus, Lockheed, Pratt-Whitney, NASA, Caterpillar, International Truck, and Toyota; and Entertainment companies Sony Pictures Imageworks, Sony Computer Entertainment, Industrial Light and Magic, Sega, Nintendo, Ubisoft, Vivendi, Electronic Arts, Square Enix and many others.

For more information about OMG and its subsidiaries, visit www.omg3d.com, www.vicon.com, www.vicon.com/boujou, www.2d3.com, www.yotta.tv, or www.yottamvs.com.

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