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Motion control is becoming entrenched as a necessary part in the future of gaming for all platforms but are developers are aiming much higher than what we may be thinking? I’m not just talking about 1:1 control to movement in games but with the addition of 3D visuals there is a strong chance that we may be on the cusp of Virtual Reality in home entertainment.
There are two trends that are guiding my belief that the next new wave in entertainment is nearly here.
1. Consumer based trends:
Classic entertainment mediums are becoming less valuable and less useful. As new media grows there is a natural movement to merge new tech in with older mediums.
TV shows, movies, music, and books are all struggling to find ways to stay profitable and relevant. As these mediums make the move toward becoming available on the Internet and more globally attainable without a hard copy they become less valuable. They become another drop in the flood of information we can buy/pirate without leaving our homes. These mediums will struggle against the constant streaming entertainment we are seeing today for relevance in our lives.
2. Corporate response to recent trends:
Sony, Nintendo, Apple and Microsoft are have implemented some form of motion control into the controls to nearly all of their gaming and some non-gaming devices. Nearly every TV manufacturer is building a 3D capable monitor. One of these companies will see that VR is on the horizon.
It is hard to imagine that Virtual Reality is really this close but when you put the pieces together it is hard not to see.
Lean'n like a gangsta.
Most gamers will remain skeptical to motion control thanks to Nintendo and their "shovel-ware" lineup but the technology Project Natal uses is far advanced. The technology recognizes people by bone structure and body movements using biometrics. Recognizing the subtle motions of a few people and translating it into onscreen reactions will be no problem.
In the cases of Natal and the Move, your body is an analog controller. Microsoft has shown that anything you hold can be used as well. Your body and anything else the Natal senses will be seen as an array of inputs that may be equivalent to hundreds of buttons and analog control sticks.
Add to that a 3D monitor and you are using, by definition, "windowscopic" virtual reality that will open a new world of possibilities in entertainment.
Virtual Prostate Exam. Bonus XP when you cup the… Nevermind.
If you are worried about visual confusion just know that motion control interaction should be much easier for gamers to play when the visuals are in 3D gaming are perfected. No longer will anyone need to gage distance on a 2D plane by comparative size and false blur alone, you will see in a field of depth true distances.