Gaming is typically at the forefront of the gadget world, and there are a number of interesting gadget concepts that could very well change the way we play our games.
Myo – motion armband
Myo is a motion-controlled application for control over digital devices.
The technology incorporates an armband which is worn around your forearm. The band picks up the electrical activity in your muscles and transmits the commands to the desired device.
The Myo band will essentially replace camera-based gesture control, and will allow for not only controlling our consoles and PCs, but the games we play on it. Imagine games like Skyrim, Dragon Ball Z or any fitness title actually tracking your muscle and strength control as opposed to tracking your silhouette.
Myo armband
Google Glass
The Google Glass augmented reality glasses could revolutionise gaming as we know it.
The glasses use augmented reality technology to visually display elements and details onto the lens for the wearer to see. This could transpose traditional HUD systems onto your headset, while the game screen itself remains dedicated to the game.
The glasses, which weigh less than some sunglasses, also contain a wireless networking chip and essentially all the other technology found inside a typical smartphone – save for a cellular network radio. This means that it could be used for communicative purposes, acting as a gaming headset with greater quality and features than that of standard headsets.
Google Glass
Oculus Rift
One device that is sure to change gaming for the future is that of the Oculus Rift.
The Oculus Rift was one of 2012′s breakout Kickstarter stories – the virtual reality headset project received just over US$2.4 million in pledges, as well as moral support from top dogs in the gaming industry, such a John Carmack, Cliff Bleszinski, and Gabe Newell.
A key feature of the Oculus Rift is its motion tracking, which emulates head swivel and pitch in the virtual world on display.
First-person shooters would benefit from this drastically, as player movement and head motion could dictate the in-game control, making for greater immersion and reaction than traditional control set-ups.
Oculus Rift
Leap Motion
Leap Motion’s particular technology is a USB motion tracking device, which claims to have 200-times more accuracy than rivals in the market, such as that of Microsoft’s Kinect system.
The device creates a tracking field above your desk, which allows for finger movements and hand gestures to be tracked.
Thanks to individual finger tracking, Leap Motion could open the door to more finite game control, such as making strategy games on consoles more playable. Players could emulate mouse controls and clicks, or even conceptualise a whole new gesture system to speed up gameplay.
Leap Motion
Tactus technology
Tactus Techonology is a new textured interface for touch-screen devices.
The tech allows for application-controlled physical buttons to emerge from the screen which can be pressed just like a physical key or button.
The buttons feature tactile feedback through vibrations, and can “flatten” back into the screen when the application is changed.
Raised buttons on touch games could give greater feedback to certain commands, and the feedback on individual fingers could allow for new multi-touch gestures.
Tactus Tech
More gadget news:
Samsung gaming controller unveiled
Google Glass will find your friends by their clothes
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Wow Tactus looks pretty cool, but of the whole lot I’m most excited about Oculus Rift. I’ve been saying for a long time that the LCD/LED panel is just a stepping stone towards more immersive technology and perhaps (hopefully!) the Oculus is the start of it.
As for Google Glass, I was pretty excited about it until recently when I came across some editorials lamenting the privacy invasion that the camera would present. Having loads of people wearing Google Glasses would be similar to CCTV cameras but instead of just the occasional camera covering specific areas, you’d now potentially have surveillance all around you.
TL;DR: Google Glass is potentially massively invasive of what little privacy we have left.