Video: Softkinetic’s gesture-based video games
Softkinetic, a company that wants to help people play video games using their bodies as controllers, was on stage at our GamesBeat 2009 conference today to give us a preview of its technology, which it’s been working on for six years. We wrote about Softkinetic back in 2006, but the technology is now coming into its own, with VentureBeat writer Dean Takahashi identifying it as one of the big trends at this year’s Consumer Electronics… Continue Reading
Canesta scores its 37th U.S. patent for gesture-control technology
Maybe I’m paranoid, but I can smell a legal battle coming in gesture control for TVs, computers, game consoles and other gadgets.
Maybe it’s because Canesta is soon to announce its 37th patent. Normally, that wouldn’t be a big deal, but innovations in user-interfaces are hot right now. Also, user interfaces for smartphones have already sparked legal disputes between Apple and Palm. Basically, Palm is using multi-touch screens — which Apple says it patented — for… Continue Reading
Sources confirm Microsoft is buying 3DV Systems
A report surfaced last week that Microsoft was buying 3DV Systems, a company that makes motion-detection technology, for $35 million. My sources confirm that this is true.
Microsoft and 3DV declined to comment to me last week.
Motion-detection will be big for the future direction of Microsoft, as it reacts to the Nintendo Wii, which revolutionized the game console industry with its motion detection technology.
As I’ve mentioned, buying 3DV would be the opening gambit in a next-generation user… Continue Reading
CES overview: trends for this year’s technology
I’ve talked about the regrettable 3-D TV trend at last week’s Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas in a separate post. But I spotted some other trends among the 2,700 exhibitors at the show as well.
Gesture control and multi-touch screens: Part and parcel of good industrial hardware design is a good user interface to go with it. Now, the mouse, keyboard, and remote control are about to give way to touch-based user interfaces or gesture… Continue Reading
Dean’s top 10 picks for the best of CES
It’s never easy to pick the top 10 new products and technologies at the International Consumer Electronics Show (CES). This year, there were more than 20,000 products from 2,700 vendors across 1.8 million square feet of space. I saw every one of them. That’s right. And these are my picks for the best of the show, in order of preference.
1. The Palm Pre smartphone has revived interest in the aging Palm platform. This phone, designed… Continue Reading
3DV fleshes out gesture-based gaming plans, hires North American chief
Inspired by the Nintendo Wii’s clever wand-like game controller, gesture-recognition start-ups are coming out of the woodwork. Israel’s 3DV Systems is one of the contenders and it is showing more of its cards.
The Yokne’am, Israel company said it plans to launch a low-cost gesture-recognition camera for game purposes in 2009. And it has hired a well-known video game veteran as its general manager for the North American market. Charles Bellfield, the new hire, has worked… Continue Reading
Throw away the Wii — 3D sensing technology due within a year, says SoftKinetic
While we’ve written several times recently about the progress of next-generation, camera-based game control technologies, including the hefty funding received by Prime Sense and an earlier update on several competing companies, there’s one detail we’ve edged around: When you’ll get to use them for yourself.
That’s because most of the companies developing gesture recognition technology aren’t sure, themselves. The firms developing the 3D cameras that make motion-sensing gaming possible have to work through intermediaries to… Continue Reading
Gesture recognition technology for games poised for breakthrough
update
In ten years, the gaming instruments we use today will look ridiculously old-fashioned.
The Nintendo Wii is big because it lets you move things on your screen with gestures of your hand, using a motion-sensitive paddle. But that’s nothing compared with what’s coming: controlling the screen with nothing in your hand at all. One day, very soon, you’ll be able to control an avatar or character on a screen with a mere gesture of your hands… Continue Reading