Posted 03.12.2010 at 1:15 pm
23 Comments
VirtuSphere
Joystiq
Yes: this is, in fact, the largest video-game peripheral you've ever seen. The VirtuSphere is a new interface that captures movements in 360 degrees, and translates them into a video game. The gang over at Joystiq first caught wind of the human hamster ball in '06, but got to see it in the flesh just this week.
The system sees where and how fast you're running through a sensor panel it sits on top of. A series of cameras inside the ball track when you spin around, and reorient your in-game avatar. The demo that VirtuSphere had on the Game Developers' Conference floor was a simple, first-person shooter. The player holds a toy gun and wears a pair of goggles, which display the in-game experience in real time.
Since the sphere can detect more than just walking and running (think jumping, crawling, and rolling), the company sees its appeal spreading beyond video games and into more intense applications like personal gym training and military combat simulations.
There are currently about a dozen VirtuSpheres up and running across the globe (check out their Web site to see all the locations), but in case there isn't one close to you, you can at least check out the video demo below.
[via Joystiq]
23 Comments
To comment, please Login.
Popular Tags
Gadgets
Regular Features
|
|
|
|
|
|
June 2013: American Energy Independence
Five amazing, clean technologies that will set us free, in this month's energy-focused issue. Also: how to build a better bomb detector, the robotic toys that are raising your children, a human catapult, the world's smallest arcade, and much more.
Popular on Popsci
Most Commented
Technology
- Defense Distributed's Cody Wilson On Being Told To Remove 3-D Printed Gun Plans: "We Win"
- Thieves Stole $45 Million From ATMs Because The U.S. Uses Absurd 40-Year-Old Technology
- This Newer, Stronger 3-D Printed Gun Costs Just $25
- Autonomous X-47B Jet Fighter Makes Historic First Launch From An Aircraft Carrier
- 2013 Invention Awards: Family Flier
- A California State Senator Is Trying To Outlaw 3-D Printed Guns
- Russia Is Building Robots To 'Neutralize' Terrorists
- U.S. Navy Spends $37 Billion On A Ship That Barely Works
- Time-Lapse GIFs Show Earth Transforming Over 25 Years
- How To Turn An AK-47 Into A Soup Ladle
Most Emailed
Technology
- Navy Completes First Flight Of Game-Changing MQ-4C Triton Spy Drone [Video]
- Should Photojournalists Be Permitted To Manipulate Photos?
- This Newer, Stronger 3-D Printed Gun Costs Just $25
- How Toys Are Preparing Kids For A Future With Robotic Friends
- 3 Robots That Want To Save Your Life
- IBM's Watson Is Bringing "Cognitive Computing" to Customer Service
- Russia Is Building Robots To 'Neutralize' Terrorists
- NASA Invests In 3-D Food Printer For Mars Missions
- Oklahoma Students Design Drones That Can Fly Into Tornadoes
- Russia's 'Space Ark' Returns All Of Its Lizards And Half Its Mice Safely To Earth
Most Viewed
Technology
- Navy Completes First Flight Of Game-Changing MQ-4C Triton Spy Drone [Video]
- Should Photojournalists Be Permitted To Manipulate Photos?
- This Newer, Stronger 3-D Printed Gun Costs Just $25
- How Toys Are Preparing Kids For A Future With Robotic Friends
- 3 Robots That Want To Save Your Life
- IBM's Watson Is Bringing "Cognitive Computing" to Customer Service
- Russia Is Building Robots To 'Neutralize' Terrorists
- NASA Invests In 3-D Food Printer For Mars Missions
- Oklahoma Students Design Drones That Can Fly Into Tornadoes
- Russia's 'Space Ark' Returns All Of Its Lizards And Half Its Mice Safely To Earth
Online Content Director: Suzanne LaBarre | Email
Senior Editor: Paul Adams | Email
Associate Editor: Dan Nosowitz | Email
Assistant Editor: Colin Lecher | Email
Assistant Editor: Rose Pastore | Email
Contributing Writers:
Rebecca Boyle | Email
Kelsey D. Atherton | Email
Francie Diep | Email
Shaunacy Ferro | Email
Today on PopSci.com
Copyright © 2012 Popular Science
A Bonnier Corporation Company. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited.
So which is gonna be bigger? NATAL or VirtuSpheres
Wow, a ghetto holodeck! We can use this when we all have surrogates. "Honey, this beach is beautiful, but the sand feels like a steel cage, though. And the water. And everything."
That ball should be a multitouch screen.
is that the new apple (eye) i-ball ?
Can someone tell me why EVERY FARGING VIDEO on the internet has to start playing AT FULLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL VOLUME??!?!!?!?!?!?!!!!!!!!?!?!~?!?!?!?!?
What's more annoying than my excessive use of characters? LOUD FUCKING NOISES!
Jesus....
lol eye (i)-ball
Bad news everyone, this tech is over ten years old and has failed to make it to mainstream, and it is unlikly it ever will.
Woaow so strange !!
^^
Tried this out at the NASA TEDx event last November. Pretty cool but the stumbling feeling you get by taking too of a stride is annoying...but still cool.
Will never enter mainstream. Who can fit that in their living room?
@ greek. my friend fit a swimming pool in her kitchen. This is a walk in the park.
I actually got a chance to get in one of these "hamster balls". Quite exhilarating.
But when I got out, I had an overpowering urge to go out and crap in pine shavings.
I wonder if they will sell a hamster suit to go with the ball?
Hey do you ever had a feeling that can you buy one that goes with a rabbit suit because the people who made it probaly put a rabbit suit in there by accident?
hey wait a minute, won't there be some kind of way to get out of it?
Yep, that's why it was at the GDC 2010, right? Next time know what your talking about before posting a comment.
T'is an Ill wind that blows no minds...
Where this has real potential is for martial arts Kata training. Imagine a personal virtual sensei who can correct and instruct in infinate detail. I study Iaido, which is all kata, involving drawing and cutting with the katana sword. In such a "hamster ball" one could not only have a virtual dojo, like the "holosuite" in Star trek, one could engage with virtual opponents programmed to be defeated only by the correct kata.
Imagine playing Runescape or WOW in this thing.
I think one of these was demo'd on SharkTank on television a few months back. It's pretty big. I don't see having a room in my house dedicated to storing it. If it's collapsible, it would make it more marketable to individuals.
Beecher Bowers
www.beecherbowers.com
Wow, a ghetto holodeck! We can use this when we all have surrogates. "Honey, this beach is beautiful, but the sand feels like a steel cage, though. And the water. And everything."
Ludwig
http://burnwiigames.org/
Hey do you ever had a feeling that can you buy one that goes with a rabbit suit because the people who made it probaly put a rabbit suit in there by accident?
www.tran33m.com/vb/
www.tran33m.com
would desire to wait around awhile right up until you are positively specific you have what it takes. Make a Million Dollars http://www.makeamillions.com/
Just bookmarked this website with my jumptags account http://www.herpesrashs.com/rss.xml