From: the Telegraaf

AMSTERDAM, tuesday March 2nd 2004
Movements are mostly hard to follow. Take, for example, the steps of a couple that dances the Tango: you'll quickly lose what you see. Such is also the case in the medical world. For people with movement disorders it's not always easy to tell exactly what goes wrong.

At the Nieuwe Hemweg in Amsterdam is a cutting-edge software company called Motek that specializes in the 'capture' of movements and storing them in a computer.

Known for producing the animation in the comedy show "Cafe De Wereld", which airs during the television show VARA Laat, Motek is also busy developing a spectacular 'lie detector' for Workers' Compensation (WAO) claims that will soon expose people who are faking back problems.

A subject claiming injury is placed on a round platform that makes unexpected movements. To prevent
themselves from losing their balance, a person makes conscious and unconscious movements. From these reactions, it soon will be clear if the illness is legitimate or is faked. If the patient behaves as the
perfect snow boarder it will be clear that he just forgot about his back problems.

The availability of much more powerful computers for a reasonable price has greatly expanded the market
for Motek's software. Different than other young high-tech companies, Motek has enough financial
resources at the moment to make her plans come true. PonHolding put in venture capital through her daughter Sienna, the company that since the end of last year (2003) holds the Twinning Portfolio. Motek expects a growing business, especially in the area of entertainment. A real breakthrough came when the
Amsterdam based company, together with television production company IDTV, started to produce five
minutes animations on a daily basis for "Café de Wereld", the funny bit in the television program VARA Laat.

CEO Oshri Even-Zohar: "Normally it will take a month to make five minutes of animation. Now it can be done in only a few hours with the use of our technique. Motek captures the movements." Animations and characters can be made without the time consuming, laborious efforts of the past. Both delivering content to entertainment industries and medical applications comprise the legs on which Motek stands.

 Several academic institutes and universities in cities like Quebec, Toronto, Liverpool and Groningen already work with Motek's medical techniques and equipment. At rehabilitation programs worldwide, these
techniques have already proved their value. By using these techniques, better therapies for children with
muscle diseases can be developed. It also offers a way to make better prostheses. Physiotherapists can gain instant perspective on how well their treatments work. The techniques offer feedback in real time so you can immediately see what is happening.

The movement laboratory from Motek is also used at the Rijksuniversity in Groningen, where they study the movements of top athletes, including football players. Motek also wants to put its huge database of
movements on the market. The computer game industry is already enthusiastically using it. Motek's technique has recently been used by the production of a real time race simulator with motorbikes. The reactions and body movements of the actor that plays the rider could be perfectly simulated according to actual physics.
Oshri Even-Zohar: "The technique is used in games such as Quantum Redshift, Mortal Kombat, The City of Lost Children, Virtua Cup, Virtua Fighter and Breakdance."

Telegraaf, tuesday March 2nd 2004