PrimeSense talks full-body motion control at GDC, gives us a video demonstration
PrimeSense was formed in 2005, and unless you’re a sickly obsessed silicon junkie, you’ve probably never heard of them. All that changes today. We sat down with the company at GDC to learn more about the chip that it produces, and we left with an imagination sore from being stretched so severely. Put simply, the company manufacturers a microchip that, when paired with off-the-shelf optics, can create a 3D grid that a computer can understand. The purpose here, as you can likely glean, is to enable PlayStation Eye-like interactions, or as the company suggests, a “more natural” way to interface with devices you use every day. Rather than grabbing the remote to switch channels or snapping up that HTPC keyboard in order to flip through your stored DVD library, PrimeSense would rather you kick back on the sofa and gently flick your hands in order to turn to this week’s Gossip Girl or sort through those classic horror flicks.
It’s important to remember that PrimeSense isn’t in the business of creating hardware, but today we were shown a reference design that looks an awful lot like an enlarged webcam. The device is completely USB powered, and while the unit shown in the images and video here was obviously a standalone device, we were told that it would be possible to integrate the solution into displays and the like in the future. They also mentioned that the depth location — which enables it to map out a room and detect your entire body — was done on-chip, with only the associated middleware taxing the CPU. Still, they’ve had success running this on Atom-level processors, so there’s certainly no big horsepower hang-up preventing it from hitting up a variety of markets.
More after the break…
Continue reading PrimeSense talks full-body motion control at GDC, gives us a video demonstration
PrimeSense talks full-body motion control at GDC, gives us a video demonstration originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 11 Mar 2010 02:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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‘PlayStation Move’ trademarked by Sony in Europe, reeks of motion controller involvement
We’re exceptionally likely to find out the official name of Sony’s PlayStation motion controller in just a few hours during the company’s GDC press event, but till then, we’ve got one more late-breaking morsel to chew on: Move. According to trademark divers across the web, Sony has filed a European trademark for “PlayStation Move,” which certainly sounds like a plausible title for some sort of motion-sensing apparatus. To date, we’ve also heard “Arc” thrown around (which we tend to prefer, if we’re being candid), and the logo shown here — which is said to belong to a separate trademark application — definitely looks more like an “A” than an “M.” Keep it locked right here for more as we get it.
‘PlayStation Move’ trademarked by Sony in Europe, reeks of motion controller involvement originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 10 Mar 2010 17:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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EA Sports introduces Active 2.0 at GDC, complete with sensors galore
By and large, EA Sports’ Season Opener event here at GDC was underwhelming, but one glimmer of newness did manage to shine through. Nearly a year after Active hit stores (video after the break) and encouraged Wii gamers to drop those unwanted pounds before hitting the soft sand in the summer, the company has announced that Active 2.0 (a working title) is currently in development for Wii, PS3, iPod touch and iPhone. We’re told that a “new suite of fitness products” will be launching in the fall, with the Active 2.0 program delivering “true fitness results by featuring an innovative wireless control system powered by new leg and arm straps with motion sensors, a heart rate monitor to capture intensity and a new online hub to track and share workout data.” Outside of that, details are nonexistent (like how exactly the iPod / iPhone components will factor into this equation), though we get the feeling that Xbox 360 owners may be left out of the party. Here’s hoping we’re wrong.
Continue reading EA Sports introduces Active 2.0 at GDC, complete with sensors galore
EA Sports introduces Active 2.0 at GDC, complete with sensors galore originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 10 Mar 2010 01:04:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Razer and Sixense distribute SDK and FPS shooter utility through Steam
Surely you remember those Sixense motion controls that we caught lounging around at Razer’s CES booth, right? Yeah. Today at the Game Developers Conference, both outfits have teamed up in order to distribute the Ultra-Precise Motion Controller SDK and FPS utility library via Steam, which should give devs the ability to create new games and port existing titles for use with the aforementioned sticks. We’re told that these new tools will require “require virtually no knowledge of the inner workings of the controller,” enabling coders to craft titles that take full advantage of the six degrees of freedom. Will this turn the PC into the next Wii? We kind of doubt it, but at least someone’s looking out for non-console gamers who have a secret obsession with Nintendo’s Wiimote.
Continue reading Razer and Sixense distribute SDK and FPS shooter utility through Steam
Razer and Sixense distribute SDK and FPS shooter utility through Steam originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 09 Mar 2010 21:55:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Seven45 Studios talks Power Gig details, we go hands-on with its six string guitar peripheral
We’ll just come right out and say it: Guitar Hero and Rock Band should watch their back, ’cause there’s a better-than-decent chance that Power Gig will be all the rage this holiday season. Seven45 Studios is a heretofore unheard of upstart with roots in First Act, and unlike the vast majority of game developers, these guys actually have a direct hand in the production of the software and hardware associated with this package. They’ll be designing the Power Gig video game series (Rise of the SixString is only the first installment) as well as the guitars, drums and microphones in-house, and given the First Act roots, you know you’ll be getting instruments of higher quality than what’s on the market today. Oh, and yes, we didn’t misspeak when we pluralized “guitars” and mentioned those other two devices.
We had a sit down with the team today at GDC, and besides coming away impressed with the alpha build of the game and the prototype axes we saw, we also learned quite a bit more about their plans than what was revealed in this morning’s press release. Just to be exceptionally clear, Seven45 Studios will not only sell their upcoming title as a standalone product, but it will sell a “band bundle” that includes the game, a guitar (plus a strap, picks and an extra set of strings), a drum set and a microphone, the latter two of which are still very early in production and weren’t available for us to test. The beat matching setup that gamers have grown used to in Rock Band and Guitar Hero is still there, but most everything else is new; a “chording” addition will allow users to strum actual power chords that match the chords used in the song, giving newbies the ability to actually learn songs as they play the game if they want to. In other words, if users strum the same chords required to succeed in the game but through an amp, they’ll be playing the actual song; if you’d rather not learn, you need not have any clue how to play a guitar to enjoy the game. Speaking of which, the bundled guitar (along with extra guitars that are still being sorted in terms of size, material and color) doubles as a legitimate six string by simply depressing the dampening pad beneath the neck, and while it won’t match the crisp tone emitted from your Les Paul Custom, the prototype we heard here in San Francisco sounded just fine for a beginner’s instrument. We also learned that existing Rock Band and Guitar Hero guitars will work with the Power Gig titles, and Seven45’s guitars will work with existing music band games — not bad!
More after the break…
Seven45 Studios talks Power Gig details, we go hands-on with its six string guitar peripheral originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 09 Mar 2010 17:04:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Seven45 Studios ups the ante for music games, intros fully functional six string controller
We’ve seen “real” guitars made to “work” with existing music-band titles, and we’ve even seen MIDI guitars play nice with Rock Band, but we’ve yet to see a company design a game from the ground-up to work with a legitimate six string. Until now. Here at GDC, Seven45 Studios is making a name for itself by introducing Power Gig: Rise of the SixString (for PS3 and Xbox 360) along with a bona fide axe. The newfangled company is a sister firm to First Act — the same guys who made that guitar sold with your ‘07 Jetta — and the instrument debuting here at the show uses proprietary technology “that can distinguish and recognize gamers’ input all along the guitar.” Better still, the instrument includes all of the innards necessary to make noise through an amp, so you could theoretically use this to rock out in real life as well. If you’re skeptical about the game’s ability to actually recognize complicated inputs, get a load of this: “Power Gig also introduces the option to switch on chording, or chord play; chording presents the added challenge of playing the game using chords that require specific finger placement on the strings.” The tandem is slated to go on sale this fall for an undisclosed amount, and we’ll be snagging some hands-on time with the game and guitar here in just a few hours — stay tuned!
Seven45 Studios ups the ante for music games, intros fully functional six string controller originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 09 Mar 2010 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Alienware M11x gets torn down, earthly components found inside
Having filled our business laptop lust with a T410 undressing yesterday, today we’ve come across a comprehensive teardown of Alienware’s gamer-friendly M11x ultraportable. Touted as the world’s most powerful 11-inch notebook, this is certainly one of the most tightly packed, with the battery and CPU cooling solution taking up more than half of the real estate, while the hard drive, memory, and wireless modules leave just enough room for an asymmetric speaker arrangement. From this strategic view, the examination moves into a very finely detailed investigation of the onboard components, including the particulars of the heatpipe-equipped heatsink, the SU7300 CULV processor, and the GT 335M GPU from NVIDIA. The whole thing culminates with the weighing of all the important parts, leaving us with pretty much no mysteries about this decidedly manmade machine.
Alienware M11x gets torn down, earthly components found inside originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 09 Mar 2010 06:05:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.