Magnetometers, how do they work? Or: Mag-fu*kin’-ometer!
Yeah, so I’m not quite sure what a magnetometer is. I Googled it but it’s still not clear to me how it would work in a controller. One NeoGAF reader trolled, “Hopefully they use the magnetometer to attract 3rd parties.”
I see what he did there.
All of these features and more were found in a filing at the US Patent And Trademark Office for the Wii U tablet controller. The patent was submitted back in February but showed up just now. NeoGAF has picked it apart and found some pretty interesting features.
Some of this stuff is in a Wii controller. The IR port, speaker and microphone will likely do something similar in this Wii U controller. The flash memory is a given. There’s a built-in battery, so no more stupid AA battery changing every 12 days. It’s a rechargeable lithium ion affair, according to the patent.
Aside from the gyro sensor and acceleration sensor, a magnetic sensor is also in the mix. It could be used for calibration. Maybe compass-like features are planned.
