Sparks

Oxford Metrics has acquired Captive Devices, a UK developer of professional head-mounted camera systems and software for markerless facial performance capture, for up to £0.75m. The business generated £0.5m of revenue in the year to April 2026, so the immediate financial contribution is modest, but strategically the acquisition looks a good fit with the transformation of Vicon from a motion-capture product business towards a broader human movement platform.

The acquisition adds facial capture to Vicon’s established strength in body tracking, extending its capabilities across marker-based, markerless and hybrid motion capture. We also believe it highlights the growth opportunity for Oxford Metrics’ Vicon business in markerless, building on its leading position in traditional optical marker-based systems and leveraging Vicon’s established global customer base and international sales and distribution infrastructure.

With £31.7m of cash at the interims against a market capitalisation of just £47m, the current valuation looks deeply disconnected from the quality of the underlying assets – particularly given Vicon’s world-leading technology, market position the group’s positive cash generation and attractive growth opportunities across both divisions.