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Control Video Games with a Camera

Posted by pudge on from the very-neat dept.

sEEKz writes "ToySight is set of cool games and toys to play using your iSight or similar FireWire camera. Using a system of object and motion detection to track your position, Toysight allows you to control buttons, sliders and perform gestures on the screen, putting you right in the action." I played it with my DV camera, and it worked OK, but I couldn't crash the little parachute guy. I want death and maiming in my video games.

4 of 25 comments (clear)

  1. How far away is Minority Report Type Interface? by UV_Haze · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Just thinking about the minority report interface. This game interface isn't too far off from what I saw in minority report, it's a lot more than I has expected in terms of applicaitons I could use with my iSight. The only negative is that my arms tend to get sore very quickly; however, I still managed to land my parachute guy within 47Meters of the target. Overall its a very cool app. Shows a lot of promise with physical gestures and things like that in Interface usage.

    1. Re:How far away is Minority Report Type Interface? by diverman · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Who knows. One major difference is that many are going with video detection. Minority Report was more complex, with the golves. In stead of simple 2D image detection, it could draw from more, 3D complex gestures.

      I played with this game. It was okay. Definitely shows some potential, but I really see user interface limitations. I kept hitting the wrong button when I was reaching for another. It was neat. I guess we'll see if/when games of this nature develop.

      -Alex

    2. Re:How far away is Minority Report Type Interface? by venicebeach · · Score: 4, Interesting

      I think this was one of the few things minority report got right. This kind of gesture-based control is potentially extremely powerful. Human capacity for sequencing and generation of action sequences is extremely advanced, and may be the evolutionary precursor to vocal language. I bet a gesture-based computer-human interface will ultimately be the way we deal with these things rather than the star-trek vocal control way.

  2. Re: Control Video Games with a Camera by mjc_w · · Score: 2, Interesting

    iirc, there was a similar product for the Amiga.
    I don't recall the name, but you could hook up a video camera to the Amiga and interact with objects on the screen. I believe that one game let you play virtual instruments.

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