Inertial and magnetic posture tracking for inserting humans into networked virtual environments

Rigid body orientation can be determined without the aid of a generated source using nine-axis MARG (Magnetic field, Angular Rate, and Gravity) sensor unit containing three orthogonally mounted angular rate sensors, three orthogonal linear accelerometers and three orthogonal magnetometers. This paper describes a quaternion-based complementary filter algorithm for processing the output data from such a sensor. The filter forms the basis for a system designed to determine the posture of an articulated body in real-time. In the system the orientation relative to an Earth-fixed reference frame of each limb segment is individually determined through the use of an attached MARG sensor. The orientations are used to set the posture of an articulated body model. Details of the fabrication of a prototype MARG sensor are presented. Calibration algorithms for the sensors and the human body model are also presented. Experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of the tracking system and verify the correctness of the underlying theory.