OPTICS: Open-source Position Tracking Implementation with Consumer Smartphones

Xiaofeng Ma; Mohamed Lamine; Simo Särkkä

doi:10.1109/IPIN66788.2025.11213385

OPTICS: Open-source Position Tracking Implementation with Consumer Smartphones

Xiaofeng Ma^*, Mohamed Lamine, Simo Särkkä

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference article in proceedings › Scientific › peer-review

2 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Motion capture systems can provide ground truth
in millimeter accuracy for evaluating positioning algorithms but
the high cost and specialized hardware requirements of current
commercial solutions limit accessibility for many researchers.
This paper presents OPTICS, an open-source, low-cost marker
tracking system built using readily available hardware (smart-
phones and consumer-grade measuring tools). The methodologi-
cal contribution of this paper is related to the implementation of
the camera calibration. Particularly, we present a novel approach
for estimating reference points for extrinsic calibration using
pairwise distances between ground reference markers without
precisely manufactured reference objects. While the system
shows some accuracy limitations compared to professional setups,
OPTICS offers a viable alternative for preliminary evaluations
and studies without access to a high-end motion capture system.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	Proceedings of the 15th International Conference on Indoor Positioning and Indoor Navigation, IPIN 2025
Editors	Jari Nurmi, Simona Lohan, Aleksandr Ometov, Lucie Klus, Christopher Mutschler, Joaquin Torres-Sospedra
Publisher	IEEE
Number of pages	6
ISBN (Electronic)	979-8-3315-5680-8
ISBN (Print)	979-8-3315-5681-5
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1109/IPIN66788.2025.11213385
Publication status	Published - 2025
MoE publication type	A4 Conference publication

Keywords

visual positioning
extrinsic calibration
marker tracking
MDS
SMACOF

Access to Document

10.1109/IPIN66788.2025.11213385

OPTICS_Open-source_Position_Tracking_Implementation_with_Consumer_SmartphonesAccepted author manuscript, 580 KB

Cite this

@inproceedings{f22c93bf6a75478b80d8a4eea16f2db6,

title = "OPTICS: Open-source Position Tracking Implementation with Consumer Smartphones",

abstract = "Motion capture systems can provide ground truth in millimeter accuracy for evaluating positioning algorithms but the high cost and specialized hardware requirements of current commercial solutions limit accessibility for many researchers. This paper presents OPTICS, an open-source, low-cost marker tracking system built using readily available hardware (smart- phones and consumer-grade measuring tools). The methodologi- cal contribution of this paper is related to the implementation of the camera calibration. Particularly, we present a novel approach for estimating reference points for extrinsic calibration using pairwise distances between ground reference markers without precisely manufactured reference objects. While the system shows some accuracy limitations compared to professional setups, OPTICS offers a viable alternative for preliminary evaluations and studies without access to a high-end motion capture system.",

keywords = "visual positioning, extrinsic calibration, marker tracking, MDS, SMACOF",

author = "Xiaofeng Ma and Mohamed Lamine and Simo S{\"a}rkk{\"a}",

year = "2025",

doi = "10.1109/IPIN66788.2025.11213385",

language = "English",

isbn = "979-8-3315-5681-5",

editor = "Jari Nurmi and Simona Lohan and Aleksandr Ometov and Lucie Klus and Christopher Mutschler and Joaquin Torres-Sospedra",

booktitle = "Proceedings of the 15th International Conference on Indoor Positioning and Indoor Navigation, IPIN 2025",

publisher = "IEEE",

address = "United States",

}

OPTICS: Open-source Position Tracking Implementation with Consumer Smartphones. / Ma, Xiaofeng; Lamine, Mohamed; Särkkä, Simo.
Proceedings of the 15th International Conference on Indoor Positioning and Indoor Navigation, IPIN 2025. ed. / Jari Nurmi; Simona Lohan; Aleksandr Ometov; Lucie Klus; Christopher Mutschler; Joaquin Torres-Sospedra. IEEE, 2025.

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference article in proceedings › Scientific › peer-review

TY - GEN

T1 - OPTICS: Open-source Position Tracking Implementation with Consumer Smartphones

AU - Ma, Xiaofeng

AU - Lamine, Mohamed

AU - Särkkä, Simo

PY - 2025

Y1 - 2025

N2 - Motion capture systems can provide ground truth in millimeter accuracy for evaluating positioning algorithms but the high cost and specialized hardware requirements of current commercial solutions limit accessibility for many researchers. This paper presents OPTICS, an open-source, low-cost marker tracking system built using readily available hardware (smart- phones and consumer-grade measuring tools). The methodologi- cal contribution of this paper is related to the implementation of the camera calibration. Particularly, we present a novel approach for estimating reference points for extrinsic calibration using pairwise distances between ground reference markers without precisely manufactured reference objects. While the system shows some accuracy limitations compared to professional setups, OPTICS offers a viable alternative for preliminary evaluations and studies without access to a high-end motion capture system.

AB - Motion capture systems can provide ground truth in millimeter accuracy for evaluating positioning algorithms but the high cost and specialized hardware requirements of current commercial solutions limit accessibility for many researchers. This paper presents OPTICS, an open-source, low-cost marker tracking system built using readily available hardware (smart- phones and consumer-grade measuring tools). The methodologi- cal contribution of this paper is related to the implementation of the camera calibration. Particularly, we present a novel approach for estimating reference points for extrinsic calibration using pairwise distances between ground reference markers without precisely manufactured reference objects. While the system shows some accuracy limitations compared to professional setups, OPTICS offers a viable alternative for preliminary evaluations and studies without access to a high-end motion capture system.

KW - visual positioning

KW - extrinsic calibration

KW - marker tracking

KW - MDS

KW - SMACOF

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105022175022

U2 - 10.1109/IPIN66788.2025.11213385

DO - 10.1109/IPIN66788.2025.11213385

M3 - Conference article in proceedings

SN - 979-8-3315-5681-5

BT - Proceedings of the 15th International Conference on Indoor Positioning and Indoor Navigation, IPIN 2025

A2 - Nurmi, Jari

A2 - Lohan, Simona

A2 - Ometov, Aleksandr

A2 - Klus, Lucie

A2 - Mutschler, Christopher

A2 - Torres-Sospedra, Joaquin

PB - IEEE

ER -

OPTICS: Open-source Position Tracking Implementation with Consumer Smartphones

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Bayes-PIML: A Bayesian Paradigm for Physics-Informed Machine Learning

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OPTICS: Open-source Position Tracking Implementation with Consumer Smartphones

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Keywords

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Bayes-PIML: A Bayesian Paradigm for Physics-Informed Machine Learning

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