Game companies have experimented with unconventional controllers for years, but a lot of them were clunkers that didn't sell well like the Power Glove, a device introduced in 1989 that let users control Nintendo games with simple hand motions. It's only recently that the commercial success of the Wii and other products has helped foster a golden age for game interface development. Nintendo just released a product in Japan called the Wii Balance Board, a pressure-sensitive device that users stand on to perform yoga, aerobics and other exercises as the Wii critiques their balance and encourages them to get fit.
Richard Marks, a senior researcher at Sony's games division, spends much of his time imagining new ways for consumers to interact with games. Dr. Marks created the technology behind the EyeToy, a camera that plugged into Sony's PlayStation 2. The EyeToy insert the moving image of a player into a game, letting them do fun stuff like give a karate chop to enemies.
One of Dr. Marks's dreams is to be able to use a camera for live-motion capture in peoples' living rooms. For example, he'd like to see his son suited up as Spider-Man on screen, shooting webs from his hands by performing the same hand gesture as his hero.
It may be some years before game consoles are up to such computing challenges but part of the technology required for such feats, so-called 3D cameras, is getting ready to hit the market at consumer-friendly prices. Next year, an israeli camera maker, 3DV Inc., a Challenge Fund II Portfolio company, plans to introduce a 3D camera for less that $100. It's a more-sophisticated version of the motion detection done today by the Wii, which gives users a wand-shaped controller to hold as they play games.
Zvika Kleir, CEO of 3DV, says the camera also will be useful for controlling avatars in online games. In most online games today, for example, you make a character dance by hitting a button on a keyboard or controller. With a 3DV camera, players could simply dance in their living rooms to make their avatars dance.
