Deviceless Fun

Freedom from devices. Total liberty of movement. Fun, and lots of it!

This is perhaps the future of sports gaming and mixed reality applications.

This week I attended a 3D and PLM developer’s conference called DEVCON. The industry is really turning a corner, and I think we’re going to be seeing a lot more of VR seeping in to product design and consumer experiences. “And sports?” you may be asking . . .

Well, let me just say that on the second conference day my thighs were killing me! (Oh, the hazards of developer events.) That’s because I did a little “sports” at the Tech Fair.

Ever heard of a company called Softkinetic? They officially present themselves as “the leading provider of 3D gesture recognition solutions to the Interactive Digital Entertainment, Consumer Electronics and Serious Games industries. [They] help customers create immersive, transparent and intuitive user experiences for video games, PC applications . . . industrial simulation environments.” Softkinetic had a stand at the DEVCON Tech Fair where conference goers could play video games—without a joystick, Wiimote, or other device. Nothing!

Sound a little magic? It is.

The way you play is simple and well coined as, “You move, we do the rest.” Softkinetic’s middleware platform kind of “beams you up” into the video game (although your real body stays in the physical world- don’t worry) through a 3D depth-sensing camera. It does this by identifying and tracking the movements of your body parts, like your head, hands, legs, torso, center of mass, etc. When you bend, your virtual character bends. When you jump, your character jumps. When you dance the Y-M-C-A, so does your digital representation.

I played a game where I had to shape my body to fit inside flying wall cut-outs. The killer (and thus my poor thighs) was the coffee table shape, which BTW repeatedly slammed me. The guy before me only got it a few times!

Instead of showing you the video taken at DEVCON, I’d like to show you this one that Softkinetic uses as its teaser. I prefer it because it has music and shows a variety of users and gameplay.

You can imagine the fun (and workout) to be had with such device-less sports or action gameplays. I wonder what would happen if you used Softkinetic’s technology in a VR cave?

–Kate

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