retainer
Latest
Valve worker's controllers let you steer games with your butt and tongue (video)
Valve's engineers may spend much of their time building practical hardware like gamepads and VR headsets, but they still have room to work on some intriguing side projects. Just ask the company's Ben Krasnow, who recently created prototype game controllers that use the player's butt and tongue for input. The backside-based system centers on a modified bathroom scale that translates posture shifts to software commands; players just have to lean or spin to move their character. The tongue controller, meanwhile, stuffs a mouse's optical system into a custom retainer. As you'll see in the demo videos after the break, neither device is especially practical -- you'd need extra equipment to have any chance of competing with fellow gamers. Still, the experiments show just how daring Krasnow can be when exploring alternative control schemes.
Magnetic retainer lets you operate machinery with your tongue, gives linguistics new meaning
Many people with debilitating conditions rely on sip and puff technology to get around, which is relatively lo-fi by some standards. Now, a special retainer with magnetic sensors could bring mobility into the smartphone age. Developed at Georgia Tech, the Tongue Drive System uses a magnetic piercing to track lingual gestures. The sensors then transmit data to an iOS app that translates it to on-screen or a joystick movement. Earlier versions used a headset, but the prototype revealed at the International Solid State Circuits Conference in San Francisco, is hoped to be more comfortable and discreet. The system is currently being trialled by 11 participants with high-level spinal-cord injuries, with larger trials planned.
More information on Final Fantasy XIV's retainers
With the announcement of Final Fantasy XIV's release date and some details on the pricing structure, one of the concepts we've been introduced to is that of the retainers. Any veteran of Final Fantasy XI is all too familiar with the "mule" characters that would dot cities; they were all but required for serious players, used for additional storage, and parked as a never-closing bazaar whilst the player wasn't active. Rather than forcing players to pay for a second character, Square-Enix is apparently letting the practice be fully realized by the game in the form of your retainer. A new translated article helps explain a little more about what a retainer's role will be. Adventurers will be allowed to choose one retainer for free, with the selection process running similar to Final Fantasy XI's adventuring fellow. Your retainer can be called at various points through use of a special item, and allows you to set up a storefront that will run while you're offline. A retainer will also provide extra storage, serving as combination mobile bank and assistant. Take a look at the full article for more details, as well as more shots of the beta client for Final Fantasy XIV in action.
