Old Westbury,NY – Students in spandex suits dotted with special markers pitched imaginary baseballs and sparred as they treated NYIT faculty and staff to a demonstration of the university's motion capture laboratory, displaying the facility's technological capability to produce work useful to engineers, scientists, and marketers.

The presentation by Peter Voci, chair of NYIT's Fine Arts program and director of its M.F.A. program, was part of the Provost Discovery Luncheon series hosted by Dr. Rahmat Shoureshi at Riland Auditorium. Voci's lecture and PowerPoint included an explanation of motion capture inventions and people who advanced the development of motion capture technology throughout history.

Established in 2008, NYIT's 32-camera lab at Midge Karr Fine Arts and Design Center is the only such university facility on Long Island and is used for teaching and research. NYIT's New York College of Osteopathic Medicine uses similar technology to analyze the gait and posture of patients with Parkinson's Disease at the Adele Smithers Parkinson's Disease Treatment Center.

While Voci narrated, a video feed to Midge Karr showed adjunct instructors Dave Voci (Peter's son) and Jon Squitieri at the lab. There, they orchestrated several short sequences with students who wore special outfits and equipment that captured their motion in digital displays.

In recent years, Voci worked on a motion capture project with NASA scientists at the Kennedy Space Center and also used the technology for an educational animation project for the NBA in China.

"We have the human resources, we have the technology," Voci said of NYIT's facility.

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About NYIT

New York Institute of Technology (NYIT) offers 90 degree programs, including undergraduate, graduate, and professional degrees, in more than 50 fields of study, including architecture and design; arts and sciences; education; engineering and computing sciences; health professions; management; and osteopathic medicine. A non-profit independent, private institution of higher education, NYIT has 14,000 students attending campuses on Long Island and Manhattan, online, and at its global campuses. NYIT sponsors 11 NCAA Division II programs and one Division I team.

Led by President Edward Guiliano, NYIT is guided by its mission to provide career-oriented professional education, offer access to opportunity to all qualified students, and support applications-oriented research that benefits the larger world. To date, 89,000 graduates have received degrees from NYIT. For more information, visit nyit.edu.

Elaine Iandoli
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