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Metal Gear Arcade mixes 3D glasses with head-tracking for this season's hottest new look
Despite a few harrying run-ins with some large white tents at Manhattan's Fashion Week-hosting Bryant Park, we can honestly say we have no idea what's "in" this year for arcade gaming headgear. Still, even with Konami's lack of zebra print or a sly celebrity endorsement, we've got to hand it to them for this fashionable new "Metal Gear Arcade" number. The arcade game is based on Metal Gear Online, but the head gear adds 3D and head-tracking to the experience. There's also a physical gun controller, and the sit down arcade cabinets pump out your gunplay in huge 5.1 sound. This new arcade incarnation of the game will be playable at the AUO Expo in Japan this week, but we have no idea how long it will be until we can look this badass from the comfort of our own couch. Hit up the source link for a riveting video in Japanese that details this exclusive, outside-the-house experience.
Metal Gear Arcade's head-tracking 3D glasses exposed!
Metal Gear Arcade, which has been sneaking under the radar since its unveiling last June, is playable at Japan's AOU Expo this week. To mark the occasion, Konami has released a new trailer and two new screenshots of the Metal Gear Online–based arcade cabinet. The trailer is available on the game's website. Konami has also provided a first look at the 3D glasses used to enable the game's "Integral Vision" effect. It's going to be totally worth putting on those goofy glasses, even after some sweaty guy just used them: not only do they create a 3D effect, the glasses also enable head-tracking. Where you look, Snake looks. To further immerse you in the experience, Metal Gear Arcade also has a mic for voice chat and a giant speaker system surrounding your head. !. %Gallery-86026%
Apple applies for head tracking patent, Johnny Chung Lee says 'you're welcome'
Pablo Picasso is quoted as saying, "good artists copy and great artists steal." Good thing the quoter was Steve Jobs then, because the latest Apple patent application to go public looks very much like something Johnny Chung Lee pieced together with a Wiimote way back in 2007. Filed for in June 2008, the new patent is for a system tracking the location of the user's head and responding to his movements in a fashion that should generate a realistic three-dimensional viewing experience sans those pesky glasses. We've got video of Johnny's setup after the break, and as he himself describes it, the idea behind a "desktop VR" is to unbound imagery from the screen surface and to make your monitor or TV act like a window unto whatever is being displayed. That means Apple will need a new branding scheme should this application turn into a real product -- iWindow just might be the least likely product name in the history of consumer electronics.
Beyerdynamic brings trio of "5.1" headphones to America
Beyerdynamic's "head tracking" Headzone Home (pictured) system has been available across the pond for quite some time, but the outfit has just announced that it, along with the Headzone Home HT and Headzone Game, are now headed stateside. The headzone tech promises a "virtual 5.1 experience," which links together the processor, headphone and Head tracking receiver, and while we don't doubt that this rig would sound pretty darn good, we're a bit scared by the omission of US price tag. You know, given that the Home setup ran well over $3,000 when it launched overseas.
Wiimote head tracking meets First Person Shooter: die Marshies, die
Remember Johnny Chung Lee's self-made VR head-tracking system cobbled together from a Wiimote and IR-equipped safety glasses? Good, because it's now one step closer to its destiny as the ultimate controller for a first person, Wii shooter. The video experience in a 3D wireframed world does look admittedly rough, but the idea is sound: step forward to move forward, to the sides to turn, and jump to (you guessed it) jump. Fortunately, with Nintendo's WiiWare service now live in Japan, maybe, just maybe someone will see the potential and commercialize this. Watch the Insight VR people hunt down the evil Marshies after the break.[Via Make and Hack A Day]
PS3 head tracking only needs camera
Last week, Sony showed off head tracking software for the PlayStation 3 using just the PS Eye camera (via MTV Multiplayer). That's right, no crazy hardware configurations devised by third parties (e.g. Johnny Lee, Electronic Arts), just software that identifies your head and its movement.A representative said the head tracking software has not been announced for any titles, but we'd love to see it show up soon for pretty much any genre of game. Video embedded after the break. (Note: It doesn't work for users with Canada, Japan or U.K. IPs.) While you're at it, (re)watch Lee's video to get a better idea of the potential of head tracking software (also embedded after the break).
Sony's PS3 headtracking system does it all with a camera
We were already blown away by Johnny Lee's headtracking demo using a Wiimote, but it looks like Sony's trying to take it mainstream in a much slicker way. The company was demoing a PS3-based headtracking system at GDC that doesn't require any special IR glasses to function -- it just uses a bone-stock Playstation Eye camera to track your ugly mug around the room. Sony says it's not announcing the system for any games yet, but we can't imagine devs aren't clamoring for this to get official -- this would be amazing for all sorts of genres. Video after the break.
Beyerdynamic's Headzone headphones promise "perfect spatial impression"
We've got another from the pre-IFA run-up, this time it's Germany's own Beyerdynamic getting set to launch their Headzone Home surround-sound headphone system. Using their patented "Headtracking" tech, the kit is said to react to the listener's head movements and automatically adapt "the space impression" in real-time. In other words, the actors' voices remain at the front of the room even while turning your head. They even claim to deliver "perfect spatial impression" regardless of your room acoustics. With a list price of €2490/$3,397, they'd better. Best give these a whirl in a noisy showroom before laying out that kind of dough, though.
Beyerdynamic's Headzone headphone promise "perfect spatial impression"
We've got another from the pre-IFA run-up, this time it's Germany's own Beyerdynamic getting set to launch their Headzone Home surround-sound headphone system. Using their patented "Headtracking" tech, the kit is said to react to the listener's head movements and automatically adapt "the space impression" in real-time. In other words, the actors' voices remain at the front of the room even while turning your head. They even claim to deliver "perfect spatial impression" regardless of your room acoustics. With a list price of €2490/$3,397, they'd better. Best give these a whirl in a noisy showroom before laying out that kind of dough, though.
