Are you still using gyroscopic things and cameras for your motion controls? Get out of last year, man. It's 2010, get with the frickin' times. Microsoft is already in the now as is proven by the fact that Microsoft Research has patented an EMG technology that will sense a person's hand motions down to the smallest of gestures.
The video above explains it all, but basically you put little things on your arm and they pick up your muscle movements in you hand and translate them to whatever you're trying to control. Clearly this tech is way far off from public consumption, but the application to videogames is pretty clear, especially when Microsoft is developing a wireless EMG sensor module that could be placed over the entire body.
I'm pretty sure that Guitar Hero without the guitar is far less cool, but the possibilities for this technology reach far beyond gaming as the video shows. I'm betting the second it becomes somewhat affordable the first thing that will be done with it is a Japanese dating sim, however.
Matthew Razak is Destructoid's Associate editor and co-founder of film site Flixist. He began as community member "cowzilla" and was since sequestered to write brainy features material. He lives in Los Angeles with his beautiful wife.
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This would work out far better than Natal would pretty sure. Natal seems to get the general motion whereas this gets the miniscule movements of the fingas. japanese dating sims!!! oh lordy.
I don't see this as a good thing for gaming. why not just use the controler or keybord/mouse. Besides I guess they are gonna have a hard time making the accuracy as good as hitting a key. but It would be nice to see implemented for jogging. it's a pain reaching the phone.
@ace of knaves
It makes sense though. Everyone knows how the motions of playing a guitar work, they're very simple to replicate, and the gameplay of Guitar Hero makes it very easy to adjust to since there's really only so much that needs to be done.
I actually thought using Guitar Hero as a demonstration was genious. It gets the point across but tries not to be so ambitious that every flaw is obvious.
You all think it's cool now, but just wait until your computer is capable of detecting your actions and updating your twitter or facebook!
I can see it now.........
Mechmans current mood is: fapping (message from microsoft bodyreader)
Anyone else who couldn't help but notice that at the end of the Guitar Hero demo, you can clearly hear the clicking of someone playing with the controller?
Smoke dream. We are too complex of beings for this type of technology to work with meaningful applications in this day and age. Perhaps good for disabled persons to aid in specific programmed tasks, but in general just not going to work. We are at least 100 years away from meaningful implementation of this sort of technology.
I can see alot of different applications this technology can be used for. If you would just imagine this as a simple watch like device or armband with wireless signal devices that is. Most likely hand gestures would be context sensitive, like opening your car door in a certain proximity or changing the music on your player after holding the finger positions for a certain amount of time rather than by accident. But beyond that you can see it used as a universal device if you wore it like a watch. To control your TV, stereo, media devices, computers, games, web surfing, etc. Imagine even laying down to surf the net with a fixed monitor above your bed your arms just laying at your sides as you surf around. Sure this might effectively kill you getting up to do anything again but that is a small price to pay for progress dammit.
That is effing awesome. It's this kind of stuff that makes me depressed that I'm not going to live to see some of the crazy tech like 100 years from now.
Saw this early today. Too early to say anything about this yet. I expect device lags and wonky interpretation of muscle movements in some crucial situations. The air guitar thing is just stupid and they also don't show the multiple button combo. They only show simple one note play. I don't expect to see anything real out of this concept for at least another 4~6 years. I am still waiting for Microsoft to do the Natal properly.
EXACTLY what Loopholejumper said. No controller is a huge turn-off, and the reason I think Natal will suck. Look at what happened to the EyeToy, after all.
That's pretty cool. I'm less interested in how it could be used with videogames though.
It appears some have missed it, but at the end of the video they're developing a wireless version of the device. They're integrating it into an armband.
I dont think this thing will work. The Majority of gamers are either super fat kids with no visible muscles under their skin, or super skinny caffeine freak kids with no muscles at all. jk.
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Contest:
5:00 PM on 01.03.2010
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I thought we were past cables!
It makes sense though. Everyone knows how the motions of playing a guitar work, they're very simple to replicate, and the gameplay of Guitar Hero makes it very easy to adjust to since there's really only so much that needs to be done.
I actually thought using Guitar Hero as a demonstration was genious. It gets the point across but tries not to be so ambitious that every flaw is obvious.
FFS Microsoft.
I can see it now.........
Mechmans current mood is: fapping (message from microsoft bodyreader)
Okay, maybe a little.
Sounds expensive.
Just to tell people I can open doors with my mind.
also these things will end up controlling YOU
It appears some have missed it, but at the end of the video they're developing a wireless version of the device. They're integrating it into an armband.
Just slip on a sensor sleeve and flexing your index finger will fire your weapon in that next FPS.
Now if they could only provide feedback via electric shock...