Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) and latakoo won NAB Technology Innovation Awards at the 2025 NAB Show. SwRI won for their demonstration of “BEAMoCap: Biomechanical Evaluation and Animation Motion Capture” being exhibited in Futures Park at the SwRI booth (W3843). latakoo won for their demonstration of “Generative Video Codec” being exhibited in Futures Park at the latakoo booth (W3853). The awards were presented at the PILOT Futures Park press conference on Monday, April 7, 2025.
BEAMoCap: Biomechanical Evaluation and Animation Motion Capture
BEAMoCap was originally focused on applications in sports science but has been expanded and optimized for use within the animation and simulation industry, specifically targeting the needs of the gaming and film communities. BEAMoCap’s motion capture technology offers animation capabilities by capturing and translating actor movements into digital animations with unmatched speed and accuracy. The system outputs data in an industry-standard format compatible with major 3D rendering software due to its widespread use in the animation industry. Our research focuses on linking digital characters directly to real-world actor motions, optimizing prediction models, and minimizing latency to ensure smooth and operationally efficient workflows.
Generative Video Codec (GVC)
GVC implements a patented multi-layer architecture that advances video processing through intelligent quality management and seamless broadcast infrastructure integration. At its core, GVC employs content-aware compression methodologies to optimize bandwidth utilization while preserving critical image detail. The system’s progressive enhancement capabilities enable dynamic quality adaptation as additional bandwidth becomes available, ensuring optimal resource utilization across varying network conditions. GVC prioritizes and delivers the most important parts of the video first– without losing sight of the big picture.
The NAB Technology Innovation Award was established in 2009. Entries for the award are submitted through a formal application process prior to the NAB Show, and the winner is selected by the NAB Technology Department. The award honors organizations that bring advanced technology exhibits and research and development demonstrations of significant merit to the NAB Show that have not yet been commercialized. A list of previous award winners is available here.