Interesting Development For New Xbox Possibly!

Vic Vinegar

Just read an article about Microsoft planning to buy 3DV Systems, who have developed a "3d spatial awareness" camera that could do eventually do away with the need for a controller on the next version of the xbox! mad news, here's a chunk of the article...

"A classic scene in Back to the Future Part II. Two kids in the '80s theme bar manage to get an arcade game working. Marty McFly tells the kids that the game is Wild Gunman and that he's a crack shot at it. When he grabs the gun to show the two boys how the arcade video game works, one of the kids (who happened to be Elijah Wood) asks "You mean you have to use your hands?" and the kids leave disappointed by how primitive this thing was. Well, it seems gamers soon will ask make such comments regarding the current consoles if this rumor happens to be truth.

Our friend Dean Takahashi of VentureBeat let us know that Israeli business publication Haaretz reported today that Microsoft plans to buy 3DV Systems. Why would Microsoft buy this Israeli company in the middle of a global recession? Because 3DV Systems has created a revolutionary technology that will even make the interface shown in "Minority Report" look outdated.

Last year, we told you that Microsoft was exploring video-based depth sensing technology and we even linked to 3DV Systems web site. This company has developed a proprietary a technology that could revolutionize the way we interact with computers, including video game systems. After developing four generations of depth-sensing cameras, 3DV Systems has come up with a commercially-viable 3D camera the size of a standard webcam that can detect objects in the three dimensional space in front of it. Its proprietary algorithms allow this camera to detect a user's hand and even the fingers and once it detects the user and the hands/fingers, it won't get confused if other shapes, or even other hands, get into the camera's view.

3DV Systems put in their web site:

The key to making a real difference in the gaming experience lies in the control. Sony acknowledged that, and launched EyeToy. Microsoft followed with their own camera, Xbox Live Vision. Nintendo took it a step further, introducing Wii. But the revolution is still around the cornerThere you have a boxing game demo where the user simply puts himself in front of the camera and interacts with the game's A.I by using his hands as the controller. That's why 3DV Systems promotes this technology with the phrase: "You are the interface"

As you can see, this ZCam doesn't need gloves like in Minority Report, because it detects a user's hand and the fingers without the need or any other attachment or device.

If Microsoft buys 3DV Systems, we could have the next Xbox console to drop the use of controllers and make them a thing of the past.

Put 3DV Systems' ZCam technology together with the technology created by Mgestyk, and I can assure you that Sony and Nintendo will have something to worry about. Check the video below (and yes, that's a demo of Halo CE)"

Looks really good! only conjecture so far but a very interesting development!

rizzla

Looks good. Think the game's it could be used for would be very casual. I'd hate to play an FPS by flapping my hands about.

This tech combined with the tabletop pc would be very good.

me-skywalker

yea i seen a guy on the news who reviews games for the guardian playin a racing game in 3D and u have to wear black shades that enhance the 3D... wasnt virtual or interactive like moving ur hands around still used a normal 360controller...

plus u need an amazing TV to run it properlly and the hardware would be expensive... but in 3-5years could become popular and will decrease hte more ppl buy it and interest there is in it.