Microsoft Develops Accurate Wrist-Mounted Motion Controller

[Hero in a half shell]

Wrist-detection? Hmm, seems neat, I suppose... but why not some kind of glove? There's no stigma wit-

...ohhh riighht yeaaaah

Ohh, it's so bad!

I'm dissappointed, I thought Microsoft were going to announce they'd made a version of the wrist-blade wii-mote from the Assassins Creed April Fools advert.


Aww.

 

[1337mokro]

Now I can accurately flip Microsoft's Motion Detection hype the bird.

 

[Lono Shrugged]

Finally my Bill and Ted air guitar exclamations of awesomeness dreams will be reality...

 

[mad825]

My money is on Jedi mind powers (BCI) rather than this shit.

 

[Prof.Beany]

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I think this will make the mouse and keyboard obsolete first...

Oh hey beat me to it.
Yeah seriously that thing is amazing. And the best part?
You can already pre-order the damn thing, and its what, like $80 or something?
Last time I checked a chunky old 360 pad cost that much (Australian at least) so I cant see MS making anything that could really compete with the Leap, at least price wise.

 

[Zyst]

I don't really give a crap about this, I just look forward to what it might bring in the far future.

 

[Owyn_Merrilin]

I say this on behalf of thumb twiddlers everywhere: do not want. Intuitive motion control is one thing. Motion control that does stuff constantly unless I sit stock still, very different.

 

[Strazdas]

I will stay by my keyboard and mouse all the way till we get holodecks.
motion controls are stupid, i dont want to dance jut to be able to play a RTS.

 

[Genocidicles]

Ugh no thanks.

Now thought control or virtual reality on the other hand...

 

[Treblaine]

"could replace mice and keyboards someday."

No.

It won't.

Not if there is free consumer choice on this issue and not forced on us.

Because it DOES NOT MATTER how technically accurate the system can track something if it is limited by ERGONOMIC PRECISION! The thing about a touch-pad or mouse is you have contact and resistance with a firm surface, you get constant interaction that varies with downward pressure, lateral force and pivoting of the heel-of-the-hand on the same rigid surface.

A hand elevated in space has insignificant air resistance and only the significant resistance of the opposing muscle. It's a lot easier to hold a pen point on a paper than it is to hold a pen perfectly still in the air.

That's the thing about all these ideas of "hand up" they look impressive on a video but they ARE NOT IMPRESSIVE TO ACTUALLY USE!

 

[Treblaine]

Unless there's a breakout hit for the Kinect soon, Microsoft's motion controller for the Xbox 360 will most likely be remembered as a stepping stone for novel tech projects and more immersive controllers in the future.

Erm, Kinect Adventures? It's sold over 18 million copies. It's the single best-selling title on the 360.

Kinect Adventures is a pack in game with every Kinect sold.

That's like saying Minesweeper is the most successful game in the world because it was a pack in game with every copy of Windows since the 1990's. People didn't buy Windows just for minesweeper, they didn't buy Kinect just for the pack in demo.

Are people actually playing and raving about Kinect adventures to the extent their sales suggest? No.

Games sold separately for Kinect, no where near as high as the thumbstick-based games for Xbox 360.

 

[madster11]

We're getting close.

Another 10 years and i can have prototype suit close to a weak iron man suit ready to be used in a combat situation for relatively cheap. Gesture controls are almost there (voice commands are too inaccurate & slow), titanium alloy and carbon nanotube enhanced fabric is easy to get, electric actuators can be made fast and battery packs are moving along nicely.
Only real problem i'm finding is the helmet - should the tinted plexiglass cover with screens for a HUD be a weak point, or should it be solid with a couple cameras mounted on the top displaying to one of samsungs flexible screens?

 

[KingsGambit_v1legacy]

Yeah, this will catch on. Some guy will scratch his nose and end up formatting C:
The calls support will get will be brilliant:

Support: "How can I help you today?"
Customer: "Yeah, whenever I watch Internet videos my monitor keeps flickering bright and dim, bright and dim and the volume keeps going loud and quiet, loud and quiet, really fast. It's really off-putting"
Support: "Are the videos you're watching....of an adult nature sir?"
Customer: *pauses*..."Why?"
Support: "Moving the motion controller to your other wrist should solve the problem, Sir."

Also, doesn't look too comfortable.

 

[RA92]

Hell yeah! I can totally see a peripheral that requires constant flailing around and arcane unintuitive gestures replacing a tried and tested setup with tactile feedback and minimal movement! Just like how the Kinect has made the gamepad obsolete!

Keyboard shortcuts? Pffft. Get on with the times.

 

[F'Angus]

Or I could just use a mouse and keyboard...because honestly those are easier.

 

[Woodsey]

Unless there's a breakout hit for the Kinect soon, Microsoft's motion controller for the Xbox 360 will most likely be remembered as a stepping stone for novel tech projects and more immersive controllers in the future.

Erm, Kinect Adventures? It's sold over 18 million copies. It's the single best-selling title on the 360.

And it came bundled with the device, whilst the device itself has seemingly flatlined.

OT: Meh. Gaming application will be minimal. I should be less aware of my hands, not waving them in front of my fucking face. Might be decent for menus in the OS.

 

[Evil Smurf]

I can't wait to see what the modders do with it XD

 

[Smooth Operator]

Leap

I think this will make the mouse and keyboard obsolete first...

Well not really, yes it's a neat party trick as is Kinect / Move / Wii flail, but the basic motion control problems stay:
- it is slow
- no physical feedback
- waving your arms in midair (after an hour of that it will feel like you are carrying two bears around, now imagine using it for several hours each day...)
- next to a mouse also highly imprecise

No doubt these things will find their place, but there is no equivalent to keyboard and mouse yet.