motion sensor
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Apple seeks patents for 3D and 'physics metaphor' gesture controls
Deep in the stodgy bowels of the USPTO sits a folder full of Apple patent applications specifically for gesture controls. A few more pages from that expanding tome were just made public, and the concepts unearthed are certainly thought-provoking. The first involves using a proximity sensor in addition to the touch panel to register gestures in 3D. For example, you could use three fingers to mark out the corners of a triangle on the screen and then "pull up" and pinch to create a pyramid for use in a CAD application. The second idea involves gestures based on intuitive "physics metaphors" that are recognized using motion sensors. So instead of navigating menus in order to start a file transfer between an iPhone and iPad, the user could arrange the desired files on the phone's screen and then pretend to "pour" them onto the tablet -- an idea which rather reminds of the funky Project Blox. Oh, did we just make a Cupertino lawyer twitch?
Hyper Ping Pong is like real table tennis, only without the ball, table or opponent (video)
Microsoft and Nintendo might already have the motion-based table tennis simulation market locked down, but there's one thing their consoles need that the new Hyper Ping Pong paddle doesn't: a TV. That's right, this motion sensor-equipped bat lets you play without the superfluous need for something to look at -- it comes with a speaker that plays back the sound of a rally and all you need to do is "go with the rhythm." A button integrated into the handle lets you put a little extra sauce on your volleys and accurate timing will win you points, awesome sound effects, and the admiration of all your friends. The Hyper Ping Pong kit will start selling in Japan this October for ¥2,000 ($25).
State Farm app uses iPhone sensors to grade your driving habits, oh joy
Remember when you took your driving test and had an inspector second-guessing your every stop, turn, signal and lane choice? State Farm's new Driver Feedback app is like having said individual with you all the time. Simply put, it uses your smartphone's accelerometer and GPS to gauge your acceleration, braking and cornering habits (sound familiar?) and spit out a score, letting you brag to your (parents / significant other / stranger / the family dog) just how safe and secure you are. State Farm claims it doesn't collect any information and won't adjust your insurance rates based on your score, which is a bit of a bummer if you ask us -- wouldn't it be nice if you could earn some cash back for perfecting your heel-toe? Either way, you'll find it for free in the iTunes App Store.
Unity Corporation releases Xtion Pro PC motion sensor in Japan
We're still waiting for some specific US launch details for the Xtion Pro and Wavi Xtion motion sensors that ASUS showed off at CES earlier this year, but it looks like folks in Japan can now already get their hands on half of that duo. Unity Corportation has just announced that it's releasing the Xtion Promotion sensor (complete with an SDK) in the country for ¥19,980, or roughly $240. That should work similarly to a Kinect considering that PrimeSense is responsible for much of the technology behind it, although you should be aware that this one is aimed squarely at developers looking to create their own games and applications for it. You'll have to wait for the more consumer-friendly Wavi Xtion for something that you can simply plop down in your living room.
The Daily Grind: Would you play a motion sensor-controlled MMO?
As great as MMOs can be, they are still limited to a mere two senses -- sight and sound -- and have their interfaces strapped to either controllers or a mouse-and-keyboard setup. It doesn't take much to spark the imagination for possibilities to expand beyond these limitations, such as using your entire body to control an avatar instead of just your hands and fingers. Lately we've been seeing a few studios and enterprising hobbyists experimenting with Kinect-like controls as a way to interact in a whole-new way with MMOs. It's not hard to see the potential for increased immersion (and increased silliness, perhaps) as you wave your hands to cast spells or chop the head off an innocent villager. Er, I mean "rampaging Orc." Yeah. So if this technology advanced to the point that your favorite MMO was using it, would you play a motion sensor-controlled game? Does it seem as if it would suck you more into the game or just frustrate you? Would this be an excellent way to both exercise and level up? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
You are the navigator: China developing motion-sensing MMO
MMO players are always looking for games that provide deeper, more immersive experiences to draw us into the game world and keep us there. China, one of the world's largest MMORPG markets, is attempting to forge ahead with the next evolution of immersive gameplay by combining online games with motion-sensing controls. Jin Gang Network is developing Land of Lords Online, an MMO that promises to allow players to explore the world and control their characters via a Kinect-like device. Without touching a physical controller or keyboard, a person can instruct his avatar to move, kill and cast spells in the game. Although details on the project are scant at this point, the company says that it will be releasing a video next month to show how the game's technology works. Whether motion-sensing controls are the next true gaming interface or just an odd fad, China isn't the only place where a marriage between MMOs and such devices is being explored. Students from the University of Southern California hacked a Kinect to interface with World of Warcraft while South Korea's GamePrix is bringing the Kinect-compatible Divine Souls to Xbox.
Weta Workshop builds real-life TF2 sentry gun, minus the screaming and blood (video)
Weta Workshop is filled with engineers, and that means they solve problems. Practical problems. For instance, how Valve Software is going to keep its throng of Team Fortress 2 players in awe. The answer? Use a gun. Like this heavy-caliber, tripod-mounted, fastidiously crafted life-size reproduction of The Engineer's level 1 Sentry Gun, which features a bona fide motion sensor for tracking whosoever is fool enough to venture into Valve's geektastic lobby in Bellevue, Washington and touch the darn thing. We're ready to volunteer. Video after the break.
Kinect meets its maker with new air guitar hack (video)
Let's face it, the daddy of all motion-controlled gaming is the humble art of air guitar. There's no question about it, creationists and evolutionists all agree, the genesis of our modern craze for motion sensitivity was your uncle rocking out to Jimmy Page's face-melting solo in Stairway to Heaven. Now that we've got the history lesson out of the way, someone's gone and programmed Kinect to recognize the fine craft of your air strumming and deliver concordant chords in response. Excellent!
Shocker! GameStop expects Kinect and Move to be in short supply this holiday season
Are you prepared to be blown away? Have your mind flipped inside-out? Experience a revelation to end all revelations? Tough luck, bubs. During an earnings call yesterday, GameStop president Tony Bartel was cited as saying that both Microsoft's Kinect and Sony's PlayStation Move would both be difficult to find this holiday season, noting that the Kinect would be "a hot item through the holiday season and the key opportunity will be just to continue to keep them in stock." He also stated that the Move would be "in short supply," and even went so far as to predict that consumers would be "following the UPS truck to our stores to pick up that product as soon as they can find it." Naturally, GameStop's in-stock guarantee won't apply to the two things it actually should (read: Kinect and Move), and Tony stopped short of providing hard evidence that this so-called shortage would in fact occur. But hey, no one ever said that drumming up demand for a product your store hawks was a bad business move, you know? And on the real, we're guessing that Santa will actually have the hots for these things, and if you're considering one, it's always wise to be proactive. Or spend countless nights attempting to snipe Johnny Doe on eBay -- your call. [Image courtesy of Geek In Heels]
How would you change Sony's PlayStation Move?
Is it Sony's play against the Wiimote, or the Kinect... or both? Hard to say exactly, but there's no question that the PS3 is no longer on the outside looking in when it comes to motion gaming. Now that it's been on the market for a few months, we're looking to hear from early adopters -- have you enjoyed your time with the Move? Has it lived up to your expectations? Any quirks with gameplay that you'd iron out? Any particular games that you'd prefer to see play nice with the apparatus? Set yourself in the mindset of a SCEA designer for a tick and let us know how you'd do the Move differently down in comments below. And yeah, sticking with "Arc" is totally an acceptable suggestion to make.
Kinect running on OS X
Microsoft recently released its Kinect motion sensor system for the Xbox 360 -- it's a little camera-equipped device that plugs into the game console and lets you control game titles, Wii-style, with just your body in lieu of any actual controllers. Just a few days after release, the hardware was hacked, and now hacker Theo Watson has released an OS X port of libfreenect, a library that allows you to run Kinect's output directly into OS X. You can watch video of it all working right after the break -- he doesn't seem real excited about it (that, or he's tired after putting it together), but it is a cool little setup. It's still a work in progress (the device has only been out for a week or so), and of course this is all unofficial -- Microsoft will never be interested in wanting to hook the Kinect up to anything but one of their Xbox 360 gaming consoles. But we've certainly seen some fun things done with the Wii controllers an Apple devices, so maybe something cool will come out of this hack as well.
Motion sensor-equipped HiSAVER power strip cuts power when you leave the room
You probably wouldn't want to use it for all your electronics, but we're guessing that most folks could find a few uses for this new motion-sensor equipped HiSAVER power strip, which can automatically cut off power when you leave the room. To avoid too much powering on and off, the strip only shuts off power if it doesn't detect any motion for ten minutes, and it includes a master outlet and a second selectable outlet that can be kept on all the time if you like. No word on US availability just yet, but Tomauri has just announced that it'll be distributing the strip in Canada, and it promises that it'll save you between $30 and $50 a year on your power bill -- good thing, considering the power strip itself costs $110. Head on past the break for a quick video demonstration.
Finis Swimsense swimming performance monitor can tell a butterfly from a breaststroke
In the water, we're such natural swimmers that we sometimes forget what stroke we're using to propel ourselves through that clear, chlorinated cocktail at the Y. If only we had the Finis Swimsense wrist-worn performance monitor that wouldn't be a problem. Using internal motion sensors plus a little information from you (such as pool size) the thing can not only tell you how many laps you swam and at what pace, but how many strokes you took to get there and even what style you were using at the time. At the end of the day it'll spit back total calories burned, which could help us identify just how many crullers we're allowed to down during our apres-swim donut binges.The Swimsense is slated for release in time for stocking season this year, priced a penny under $200.
Logitech's Wireless Illuminated K800 keyboard boasts ambient light and proximity sensors, costs $100
It wasn't too long ago that we were pondering the relative scarcity of backlit desktop keyboards, so let's all warmly welcome a new entrant into this niche category. The K800 from Logitech picks up where the wired Illuminated Keyboard left off: it has the requisite inflated price, adjustable and intelligent illumination to please functionalists, and a dagger-like profile for aesthetes. Ambient light sensors will align the keyboard's brightness to your environment, while proximity detectors will only flip the switch when your hands are in position to start writing. There's also a Micro USB cable to refresh your battery when it starts running low -- it's rated for up to 10 days of wireless use -- but whether this whole package of smart convenience is worth the $99.99 we'll leave up to you. The K800 should be shipping out later this month, and you can find out more about it in the press release after the break.
Microsoft pulls apart a Kinect camera, tickles your non-gaming fetish
Tease as much as you want, Sony, but things get real serious when you flip to the other side and look at the magic behind Microsoft's Kinect camera. Recently, T3 was able to get behind the scenes for a quick lesson on how this Xbox 360 peripheral works, and as part of the tour, it also saw the innocent sensor sitting bare naked in the lab. As pictured above, this little device actually has a lot to pack in -- namely a RGB camera for facial recognition plus video capturing, a depth sensor (an infrared projector paired with a monochrome CMOS camera) for movement tracking, four downward-facing mics for voice recognition, a quiet motor in the bulky base for rotation, and all the circuitry components to link them up. Head over to the source link for a detailed briefing -- but we all know you're just gonna go straight to the gallery of Redmond's naughty pics.
Microsoft algorithm uses six-axis motion sensors to fix blurry snapshots, inadvertently pimping your ride
Trying to snap a shot of your cherry red Mazda, but can't keep your hands still? You'll find all the tech you need to smooth things out in an iPhone 4 or (MotionPlus-equipped) Nintendo Wiimote. Experimenting with 6DOF inertial measurement sensor packages, scientists at Microsoft Research have developed a software algorithm that literally records your exposure-destroying shake via accelerometer and gyroscope, then magically removes the blur by canceling it out. While the technique still isn't perfect -- spot ghostly line above some of those background cars -- the Microsoft researchers compared their results to other in-progress algorithms, and we think you'll agree this new solution presents the best results by far. It's a shame Microsoft doesn't say when we'll see the tech in a spiffy DSLR attachment, or better yet a cameraphone. See before and after animated GIFs after the break, and find high-res comparison images and much more at our source link.
Editorial: ESPN bypasses corporate red tape with iPad and Xbox 360, wannabe innovators should take note
So, there's two ways to look at this. One would be to gawk at the fact that ESPN, the worldwide leader in sports broadcasting, is using iPads and Xbox 360 consoles -- common devices that are widely available to mere mortals -- to drive content to millions of consumers. Another would be to gawk at the fact that ESPN has somehow managed to keep its finger on the pulse of innovation, despite being swallowed by Disney and being a part of one of the planet's most monolithic corporations. Thankfully for you, we're going to cover both angles here. Our eyes were opened after stepping foot in the company's Bristol headquarters and really getting a feel for how the company views technology and its integration into programming, and it led us to a philosophical conclusion about how corporations should (but oftentimes aren't) be taking advantage of what's readily available. Ready to get schooled? Head on past the break. %Gallery-95012%
PrimeSense fesses up: it's the magic behind Microsoft's Project Natal
Up until now, we haven't actually been able to find out too much about the ins and outs of Project Natal. For all we knew, it's a technology designed in the back stall of a unicorn barn, and the final name will somehow involve diphthongs from both "lasers" and "Robot Apocalypse." All jesting aside, this really does mark the first bona fide announcement about the nuts and bolts behind Microsoft's forthcoming motion sensing add-on for its Xbox 360, and lo and behold, the revealing is being done by the same company we sat down with earlier this month at GDC. Quite a few of you assumed that PrimeSense's webcam was indeed Project Natal in camouflage when we posted up our original hands-on, and while we couldn't confirm or deny those suspicions at the time, we can today. So, what's this mean for you? It probably means that PrimeSense is actively looking to get its 3D-sensing technology (which has obviously been tweaked quite a bit by Microsoft, to its credit) into as many living room scenarios as possible, so what you're seeing in Natal might just appear elsewhere in the very near future. Did your imagination just run wild? No? Have a look back at our GDC experience and try again.
PlayStation Move will offer limited four player support
So you do your research, you read up on everything important about the PS3's new Move controller, and you consider yourself well prepared for a future of wild merrymaking and multiplayer gaming parties. And then you find out you can't use four full sets of controllers with your console. As it turns out, the PS3's Bluetooth module is only fit to address up to seven wireless devices at a time, which poses something of a puzzler when you consider that you need a pair of Move controllers (or a Move plus a sub-controller) to get your money's worth and four times two is, well, a number greater than seven. Perturbed by this, Gizmodo contacted Sony for an official response and the news gets even worse: "Four PlayStation Move controllers can connect to a PS3 at one time (or two PlayStation Move Controllers and 2 PlayStation Move sub-controllers)." That basically means you can have the full Move experience with only one friend, or you can share out the wands and have that tiny bit less fun with a quartet. Not a problem for the misanthropes out there -- or most people really -- but an important limitation to be aware of, nonetheless.
PrimeSense talks full-body motion control at GDC, gives us a video demonstration
PrimeSense was formed in 2005, and unless you're a sickly obsessed silicon junkie, you've probably never heard of them. All that changes today. We sat down with the company at GDC to learn more about the chip that it produces, and we left with an imagination sore from being stretched so severely. Put simply, the company manufacturers a microchip that, when paired with off-the-shelf optics, can create a 3D grid that a computer can understand. The purpose here, as you can likely glean, is to enable PlayStation Eye-like interactions, or as the company suggests, a "more natural" way to interface with devices you use every day. Rather than grabbing the remote to switch channels or snapping up that HTPC keyboard in order to flip through your stored DVD library, PrimeSense would rather you kick back on the sofa and gently flick your hands in order to turn to this week's Gossip Girl or sort through those classic horror flicks. %Gallery-87985% It's important to remember that PrimeSense isn't in the business of creating hardware, but today we were shown a reference design that looks an awful lot like an enlarged webcam. The device is completely USB powered, and while the unit shown in the images and video here was obviously a standalone device, we were told that it would be possible to integrate the solution into displays and the like in the future. They also mentioned that the depth location -- which enables it to map out a room and detect your entire body -- was done on-chip, with only the associated middleware taxing the CPU. Still, they've had success running this on Atom-level processors, so there's certainly no big horsepower hang-up preventing it from hitting up a variety of markets. More after the break... %Gallery-87979%
