Optical motion capture tracks the 3D position of markers placed on anatomical landmarks at a known sample rate inside a calibrated volume. Those trajectories are run through biomechanical modelling and processing to deliver kinematic and kinetic measures that observation alone cannot give you, including joint angles, such as knee flexion, shoulder rotation, and hip abductions, as well as joint kinetics, such as knee joint power, hip extensor moment. From a clinical perspective, these measurements support diagnosis, surgical planning, orthotic and prosthetic prescription, and objective rehabilitation and return-to-play decisions.

Yes, at least 8 Qualisys Video cameras combined with Qualisys marker-based cameras performs what we call True Hybrid: simultaneous markerless and marker-based tracking within the same measurement. Track prosthetics, athletic equipment, and other objects with markers while capturing human biomechanics markerless.

Both paths exist for markerless, Prisma Pose is Qualisys’ native markerless engine for biomechanical analysis that can run inside QTM. It reaches availability in November 2026. For labs that use the Theia3D Markerless software, Qualisys provides a trusted and seamless integration. Alternatively, OnTraq is our end-to-end markerless analysis solution built for athlete baseline testing of elite sports teams, powered by the Prisma Pose markerless engine.

Yes, depending on the manufacturer. QTM automatically synchronizes motion, force plate, EMG, eye tracking, IMU, and instrumented treadmill data from a variety of providers. Data acquisition for those integrated devices is performed directly in QTM, so you don’t need to jump from one application to another. You can find all supported device integrations by visiting qualisys.com/integration.

Qualisys exports to C3D, TSV, STO, TRC, FBX, and JSON and MAT formats for further analysis in applications such as Visual3D, OpenSim, AnyBody, Python, MATLAB, or your preferred animation or game engines.

Yes, Qualisys has supported outdoor capture since 2005 and underwater capture since 2010, and Arqus MRI enables motion tracking inside an MR environment. This matters to researchers and practitioners so they can measure more closely to real-world experiences of their subjects. Each environment brings its own constraints, and those constraints should not limit the research possibilities.

The Qualisys Clinical System (QCS) is a medical device with European Class 1m CE marking and has been cleared by the FDA for clinical use in the US, so it can be used in direct patient care as well as research.

Yes, applications of motion capture for animal biomechanics span from small-animal and rodent locomotion to full-body quadruped research and equine lameness studies. Comparative biomechanics studies across species have been performed on swarms of insects and on birds in flight.

Qualisys systems include an industry-unique site license, allowing customer sites to freely deploy QTM on as many computers as you like so your research is not tied to a dongle or single-seat licensing. Qualisys also offers student account, or “guest accounts,” to meet the needs of academic institutions that have a new set of users every semester or term.

Biomechanics labs commonly run 8 to 12 cameras, but the right number is set by capture volume, subject-count, marker set application, and complexity of the movements. A full-body marker set with a multi-segment foot model needs more coverage than a lower-body set. A golf swing is a multi-planar movement, which requires more coverage to track the entire motion, especially given occlusion that movement produces. For markerless capture, a minimum of 8 cameras is required to track full-body movement. Qualisys representatives will help you configure an optimal setup based on your needs. Use the link below to get in touch.