One Ceramic Gyro can measure the rotations of one axis. Two gyros that combined at right angles can check rotations for two axes (vertical and horizontal) and measure 2D movement. This technology is used for cameras and other devices.
Further, combining three ceramic gyros enables measuring of 3D rotations by measuring the rotations of three axes. This "3D Motion Sensor" is a sensor that can check the position at that time no matter what direction (back or front, right or left, roll or pitch) the object is in.


As shown in the figure above, when three Ceramic GyroTM are used along with three right angled axes (a, b, and c), this allows 3 dimensional rotations to be measured.

However, a 3 dimensional position cannot be detected when using only Ceramic Gyro. Ceramic Gyro can detect “the amount of rotation”; however, they cannot detect the position and direction “from what state”; i.e., the position and direction used as reference cannot be detected. For example, you are in a dark room, you are spun around then you are told that you were spun two and half rotations. Do you think you could find the exit? The answer is probably no. However, if the room light was on and you could remember where the exit was before being spun around, you could probably find the exit after turning the light off and spinning based on how many rotations you were spun. In this example, the “exit” is the reference point for the position and direction. 3D Motion Sensor needs the same information, which is called a "basis."


Then, two factors that are most common on the Earth are selected as the basis. They are the EarthÅfs magnetism and gravity. People have used the Earth’s magnetism to know where “North” is from ages past. Moreover, if a sensor can detect the direction of gravity, you could find the direction directly below. The “Magnetic Sensor” detecting the direction of the Earth’s magnetism is like a compass, and the “Acceleration Sensor” detecting the direction from where gravity is being applied, are combined with three Ceramic GyroTM in order to detect a 3 dimensional position. This fulfills the "3D Motion Sensor."


The Ceramic Gyro are arrayed to measure movement in each of the three directions - up-down, left-right, and front-back - and each of these gyros is then paired with one of the other sensors: magnetic in the up-down direction, and accelerometer in the left-right and front-back directions. In combination, these sensors can accurately measure motion in each of the three dimensions. During fast movements, the values output by the accelerometer and the magnetic sensors are supplemented by the gyros, while during slow movements, the values output by the gyros are supplemented by the accelerometer and the magnetic sensors.