Toronto, ON., CANADA, February 26, 2020 – At ISE 2020 in Amsterdam, CAST Group of Companies, Inc. unveiled the latest product in their line of BlackTrax Real-Time Tracking solutions. A part of BlackTrax’s CONVRG camera automation ecosystem launched in April 2019, HELIOS is the new camera-tracking beacon designed for all environments to enable extended and augmented reality for the broadcast, cinematic and touring industries.
Mounted directly onto a camera to suit any filming needs, the unified ecosystem of BlackTrax, CONVRG and HELIOS will allow users the flexibility of placing BTSensors in vantage points and areas that best suit the specific environment of any production.
HELIOS is a PoE device that gen-locks and integrates with broadcasting systems to standards worldwide, making it a versatile tracking solution that syncs with BlackTrax environments using the line-of-sight technology BlackTrax is known for. HELIOS automatically creates a five-point rigid body with five LEDs on each corner of the device, plus one in the center. Used in conjunction with lenses from such manufacturers as Fujinon, Canon and more, HELIOS connects directly with lenses to collect and synchronize lens data with tracking data, the resulting streams of which are gen-locked through HELIOS per worldwide standards.
Folded within a single ecosystem alongside BlackTrax and CONVRG, HELIOS is the perfect complement to any BlackTrax environment or system, significantly simplifying production workflows by removing the need for multiple tracking systems when gathering positional data from several sources.
Andrew Gordon, VP, Business Development of CAST Group, elaborates: “CAST understands that as tracking data becomes more and more the linchpin and nervous system of productions, having everything under one umbrella becomes the essence of any quality workflow. We are confident that the combination of HELIOS, CONVRG and BlackTrax will not only help productions get to air quickly, but will help improve content interaction and overall, save time and money within any production.”
With the introduction of HELIOS, the CONVRG ecosystem can now merge real and virtual worlds, taking BlackTrax technologies another step further into the automated future. HELIOS is currently being beta-tested with select users worldwide, with the official public release scheduled for later this year.
More About CAST Group of Companies, Inc.
Established in 1994, CAST Group of Companies, Inc. is a Toronto-based software and hardware developer that serves its core markets in entertainment production, special events and meetings.
CAST’s award-winning flagship products are wysiwyg Lighting Design and Previsualization Suite, Vivien Event Designer and BlackTrax Real-Time Tracking.
All products are designed and created in-house and supported by an established global distribution and reseller network.