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Taking the Wii Controller to the Next Level

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the stuff-to-play-with dept.

funfail writes "It's a Wii without the $250 console. It's virtual Pong and so much more. Any object is now an input device, even your fingers. Camspace is a pure software solution that allows nearly any ordinary PC webcam (95% are supported) to track up to four objects — even as small as 5mm — in real-time and with very high accuracy and reliability (Windows only). Techcrunch has an in-depth article and a video." Very neat idea, but it appears that it is in a limited beta only, and source doesn't appear likely.

24 of 157 comments (clear)

  1. Taking the wii controller tothe next level by antirelic · · Score: 5, Funny

    Sweet! At the next level my Wii controller gets henchmen and has a ThAC0 of 11, and 98 Hit points! I think we will be ready to defeat the Play station which is only level 3!

    --
    20th century Marxism is not progress...
    1. Re:Taking the wii controller tothe next level by Culture20 · · Score: 4, Funny

      360 (XBOX MS Neu Cha) 0 killed by a red ring, while helpless

    2. Re:Taking the wii controller tothe next level by Sabz5150 · · Score: 4, Funny

      Powerlevel it by having it fight some TV screens.

      --
      "Who modded this informative? Whoever it is must've been smokin' some of that martian pot!"
    3. Re:Taking the wii controller tothe next level by SomeoneGotMyNick · · Score: 4, Funny

      Wait, were you just pointing out that a /.er is out of date? Not me.....

      I just upgraded my Commodore 64 modem to one of those new 9600 baud models. I'm surfing Slashdot faster than ever now. Eat your heart out everyone!!!
  2. Its Multitouch for the masses! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Interesting

    set one of these up pointing at your computer screen... and have it track your fingers.

    1. Re:Its Multitouch for the masses! by morgan_greywolf · · Score: 5, Interesting

      What? Multitouch without lining the pockets of Bill Gates or Steve Jobs? Blasphemer! Communist! Why, that's downright un-American! Put him in Gitmo! ;)

      The question is: okay, so we know it will be free as in beer, and that they will have Windows first, then Mac and Linux later. But what about free as in speech? This is all in software -- so will they be releasing this under an open source license? And if not, why?

      --
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    2. Re:Its Multitouch for the masses! by gyepi · · Score: 5, Interesting

      This should be combined with the head-tracking solution by Johnny Chung Lee (your head is the object which is recognized) - low cost 3D first person shooters!

      --
      Attitudes make the difference between Space and Time: we want to MAX our temporal, and MIN our spatial extension.
  3. Posting AC because I'm 100% offtopic... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    ...but /. is running ads for Russian mail-order dating sites now? Seriously? I realize we're all nerds here and not exactly smoove with the ladies, but is this how low we've sunk? Damn. That just peed all over my morning.

    1. Re:Posting AC because I'm 100% offtopic... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      Hans Reiser is the new ad exec for Slashdot

  4. Nice tech, but latency? by J-F+Mammet · · Score: 5, Insightful

    This certainly seems to be a very nice software, but the main issue with using webcams as input devices is the latency. Your average webcam can take quite some time between what it's filming and what the PC is actually getting at the other end. And this is a very bad thing when it comes to gaming. You can even see the latency in their video at around 1:30 when they have the players and the PC screen in the same frame.
    Nice for simple games I guess, but for serious gaming it would require special cameras with low latency.

    1. Re:Nice tech, but latency? by pherthyl · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Yeah the video is hard to believe. I've done lots of work with image processing using webcams and they're usually pretty crap. You can get 30fps max, and then usually only at 320x240. If the lighting conditions aren't good, your framerate will drop (or everything goes unusably dark if you disable the automatic aperture adjustment).

      They show some latency, but overall the motion is incredibly smooth. Based on my experience that's impossible, but I'd love to be proven wrong. Gotta try that out.

  5. Clever by Idimmu+Xul · · Score: 3, Informative

    People have been writing webcam tracking software for ages, some is actually open source and there's even phonecam tracking software but this the first hopeful sign I've seen for something more fun than some stupid logitech wobbly eyebrowes and a moustache!

    --
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  6. Re:WIndows Only by stormguard2099 · · Score: 5, Interesting

    they say osx support and linux support are in the works to follow pretty soon right there on the website

    --
    http://greenobyl.com/ please.... think of the children!!
  7. Source by Archangel+Michael · · Score: 5, Insightful

    source doesn't appear likely. So, if the source isn't available, we whine!

    This is one of those very annoying parts of the whole Open Source Movement, the whining. Good Idea, no source = whine.

    Code it yourself, and give your work away. Stop whining, please. It doesn't do the community any good when you whine.

    Seriously, if the code isn't open and it isn't going to be, start your own, and stop whining. It would be so much better if we stopped whining and posting the whines to slashdot and started to code.

    One of the side benefits of this (coding a good idea like this) would be that no company would dare release beta code, if it knew that the OSS version was on the way.

    Now, get back to coding!
    --
    Agent K: A *person* is smart. People are dumb, stupid, panicky animals, and you know it.
    1. Re:Source by xZgf6xHx2uhoAj9D · · Score: 3, Funny

      Man, I'd hate to live with you if you think that's whining. AM's roommate: uh oh, looks like it's going to rain soon. AM: STOP FUCKING WHINING! I CAN'T TAKE IT!

  8. Re: Taking the wii controller to the next level by hypergreatthing · · Score: 5, Insightful

    So... this has nothing to do with the Wii or a controller for that matter. It's video recognition software.

    GJ.

  9. Patent infringement ? by DrYak · · Score: 4, Insightful

    "one of these" isn't anything but a webcam. That's the problem too...

    Massive lawsuits coming from Sony for infringement of all patents they managed to get granted regarding the Eye Toy in :
    5 seconds...
    4...
    3...
    2...
    1...
    Take of every lawyer !
    For Great Justice !

    --
    "Sufficiently advanced satire is indistinguishable from reality." - [Tips: 1DrYakQDKCQ6y52z6QbnkxHXAocMZJE61o ]
    1. Re:Patent infringement ? by L4t3r4lu5 · · Score: 4, Informative

      The eyeToy doesn't work on the PC, so there's no loss of market share.

      If their patents cover all of these style of input devices, and not just PlayStation versions, then the patent office has a serious case of cranio-rectal inversion.

      --
      Finally had enough. Come see us over at https://soylentnews.org/
    2. Re:Patent infringement ? by stoolpigeon · · Score: 3, Informative

      If their patents cover all of these style of input devices, and not just PlayStation versions, then the patent office has a serious case of cranio-rectal inversion.
       
      Have you been paying attention? This question has been settled for some time. Hence the gp's high level of confidence.

      --
      It's hard to believe that's how Micronians are made. Why don't we see it right now by having you both kiss one another?
    3. Re:Patent infringement ? by DrgnDancer · · Score: 4, Informative

      Optical tracking has been around forever. I work in a VR lab, there is no way Sony has a patent on the idea.

      --
      I don't need a million points of light, just two points of multi-mode fiber and a 10 Gig-E router.
  10. PS2's EyeToy anyone ? by Vapula · · Score: 4, Insightful

    What this is doing is basically the same than the PS2 EyeToy... Maybe with a better accuracy (but, well, the hardware is more recent).

    I wonder What Sony will think about that... I guess their patent lawyers will be ready to jump on the case...

    For Information, EyeToy Antigrav tracks
    - both arms for character's arms movements
    - head movements for the character direction change
    - jump/duck to make the character do the same things...

  11. Oxymoron by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    I concluded this was a hoax as soon as they said it was reliable AND runs on Windows.

  12. thank you. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

    As a guy who likes the open source movement, I'm well aware how those who think they love freedom really want to push rules onto other people.

    Open source = good
    close source = good

    freedom = good

    being forced to open or close one's source = bad

  13. Oh stop whining by msaver · · Score: 5, Interesting

    CmdrTaco wasn't whining that the source isn't available, but he seemed disappointed the code won't be freely available. He wasn't accusing the author of immoral licensing practices.

    And why shouldn't he be disappointed? it'd be fun to play with.

    My first thought was "neat... can I play with this code?" and I'm sure my reaction wasn't unique.