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New Type of 3D Game Controller Harnesses MEMS Gyro

Posted by Soulskill on from the more-hand-waving dept.

An anonymous reader writes "A new category of 3-D motion controller for gamers uses a novel type of micro-electro-mechanical system (MEMS) gyroscope to track hand motions with unparalleled accuracy. By detecting the natural motions made by remote control users — as opposed to the unnatural motions that gamers must learn to control today — the MEMS chip is sure to be incorporated in both game consoles and other consumer electronics like TV remote controls. Nintendo has already incorporated a similar MEMS gyro into its forthcoming MotionPlus controller for the Wii, but this newer type of gyroscopic motion sensor will enable even more intuitive and agile control."

33 comments

  1. Please don't reprint company press releases. by YesIAmAScript · · Score: 3, Informative

    Come on slashdot.

    This company reprints this press release periodically.

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    http://lkml.org/lkml/2005/8/20/95
  2. Mmmm....MEMS Gyro... by byronne · · Score: 1

    Correct me if I'm wrong, but that's a Meat Everything Minus Sauce, right?

    --
    "Look, Smithers! I'm Davy Crockett!"
    1. Re:Mmmm....MEMS Gyro... by x2A · · Score: 1

      No, it's Many Enemas Mean Something... the guy who came up with the design really liked his coffee... like... more than just as a friend. Anyway, legand has it, he needed something that would hold steady.

      --
      The revolution will not be televised... but it will have a page on Wikipedia
    2. Re:Mmmm....MEMS Gyro... by Midnight+Thunder · · Score: 1

      Hint, hint ... ah ok, then it is Micro Electronic Mechanical System (see: MEMS)

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      Jumpstart the tartan drive.
  3. Re:Gee by wisty · · Score: 3, Informative

    So slashdot should wait for the Tech sections in the newspaper to reprint the article, and then link to the credible news source?

  4. As long as... by tyroney · · Score: 2, Interesting

    ...a tap against a thigh hits farther than an enthusiastic swing, motion will continue to be overrated.

    1. Re:As long as... by fractoid · · Score: 1

      Pretty sure that with a real accelerometer, it'll be much harder to find that tiny flick motion that will be seen by the console as a massive smash. With sufficient accuracy you just integrate the forces that the controller experiences and you can get a pretty accurate path (over short periods of time, at least, there'll still be noticable drift after a second or two).

      That's why I hate the current Wii motion-control games; not because of the concept but because the controls tend to suck ass in practice.

      --
      Rampant carbon sequestration destroyed the Dinosaurs' tropical paradise. I'm here to help repair the damage.
  5. Never heard of it by oljanx · · Score: 1

    But I do like greek food.

  6. MEMS Mass production can only be good by GordonCopestake · · Score: 1

    I have no issues with a company moving MEMS devices into mass production. This gives us better technologies and experience when it comes to manufacturing other MEMS devices. Whilst MEMS devices are (a few?) orders of magnitude away from nanotechnology, I believe that MEMS devices will be a bridge technology to a post-scarcity society. How can that be a bad thing? The more work we do at this scale the better.

  7. but is it steady? by rastoboy29 · · Score: 4, Informative

    The biggest issue I've had with a lot of novel game controllers (and I've tried many of them) is that while they may technically work very well, they just aren't practical.  For example, I remember trying out a gyroscopic mouse several years ago, and it worked fine--except I had to hold the mouse up in the air...somewhere.  Not only was it very tiring, but I found that without a nice steady table to slide it around on, it was impossibly to hold *steady* in the air.  In the end it was useless.

    So I wonder if they've solved that.

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    expandfairuse.org
    1. Re:but is it steady? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      i bought one of those mice a while back to use with my projector
      and while it is hard at first u get used to it and learn some tricks

      A) there is a button that acts like putting the mouse on the table so u can "pick it up" if u need to pause or click on something
      B) i found it most effective if u didnt use your arm to control it but held your arm steady and moved your wrist

      arms with those two tricks ive taught many ppl to use it with decent accuracy after only 15 minutes

    2. Re:but is it steady? by baka_toroi · · Score: 1

      The mouse you are refering to is the Logitech MX Air. You can check it out at http://www.logitech.com/index.cfm/mice_pointers/mice/devices/3443&cl=US,EN

  8. Not news by PhasmatisApparatus · · Score: 1

    So, they can now make a MEMS device which can detect two axes at once. How is this different from simply using two MEMS gyroscopes, one for each axis?

    Technology is expensive at first, but after a few years it's cheap enough to make it's way into consumer electronics. News at 11.

    1. Re:Not news by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      or what about a three axis gyro like the Hitachi H48C. I mean it's not rocket science or something.

    2. Re:Not news by LordVader717 · · Score: 1

      Cost, power and size. Having two axes and signal evaluation on one chip will effectively cut the cost by about a third and drastically simplify the design.

      Microcontrollers don't offer anything that can't be done with destinct components, but they what they can much better.

    3. Re:Not news by LordVader717 · · Score: 1

      That's actually an accelerometer.
      This device is the first to implement multiple gyros on one chip.

    4. Re:Not news by jkua · · Score: 1

      There have been earlier dual axis gyros. In fact, Invensense released some years ago. What's new here is that this measures pitch and yaw (X/Z rotation) rather than the pitch and roll (X/Y rotation) that earlier dual axis gyros measured.

    5. Re:Not news by fractoid · · Score: 1

      What's new here is that this measures pitch and yaw (X/Z rotation) rather than the pitch and roll (X/Y rotation) that earlier dual axis gyros measured.

      Wow, and they never thought to, you know, mount the chip at 90 degrees? Reminds me of the joke about changing light bulbs...

      --
      Rampant carbon sequestration destroyed the Dinosaurs' tropical paradise. I'm here to help repair the damage.
    6. Re:Not news by jkua · · Score: 2, Insightful

      It's all about build cost. Mounting the chip at 90 degrees means a separate PCB, mounting connectors, and physical space. All things that drive up the cost of the device.

    7. Re:Not news by LordVader717 · · Score: 1

      Not with integrated evaluation. That makes the difference of having one chip instead of at least two.
      Your facts are also wrong about the axis. As another poster pointed out, it's merely a matter of mounting them differently. And the dual-axis chip in the Wii senses the x-y axes, not x-z.

      http://www.invensense.com/applications/gaming/gaming.html

  9. Yeah, but... by Knoeki · · Score: 1

    the question is, will this actually work better than the Wiimote, which randomly decides that you've pointed in the opposite direction for no reason?

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  10. Bad summary by LordVader717 · · Score: 3, Informative

    This product is the one that the Wii Motion+ uses. They actually unveiled it a year ago when Nintendo showed off the device at the E3.

    1. Re:Bad summary by Midnight+Thunder · · Score: 1

      This product is the one that the Wii Motion+ uses. They actually unveiled it a year ago when Nintendo showed off the device at the E3.

      Yup. A quick search confirms this: http://wii.ign.com/articles/893/893192p1.html

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      Jumpstart the tartan drive.
  11. Spot On by dreamchaser · · Score: 1

    That's exactly what it reads like. Not sure why you were modded 'Off Topic' other than the ravening horde of mods on crack.

  12. I guess this deserves an appology.... by SIR_Taco · · Score: 1

    So when I used to laugh at my sister for moving the NES controller around like a steering wheel in Mario Kart or moving it up in the air when jumping in Super Mario Brothers...
    I guess she just had much more foresight in the future of technology that I had.
    I wonder if Hallmark has an "I'm sorry I laughed at your stupid hand/eye coordination" section?

    --
    I say don't drink and drive, you might spill your drink. Before you get behind the wheel just stop and think.
  13. Power Glove vs. MEMS gyroscope by kbrasee · · Score: 1

    "I love the MEMS gyroscope... it's so bad."

    Nope, not as good as a Power Glove.

  14. This is a 2006 part by Animats · · Score: 2, Informative

    This 2-axis rate gyro part came out in 2006. Analog Devices and Motorola have had comparable parts for years, but at a higher price.

    It's only 2-axis. If they could do all 3 axes on a flat chip, that would be something. Usually, you need a second chip mounted vertically to the first one to get all three axes.

    An elegant design is to use four MEMS gyros oriented along the axes of a tetrahedron. With that redundancy, you can detect faults. The Segway does that, for safety reasons.

  15. No, it's not by jkua · · Score: 2, Informative

    Actually, no. This is the IXZ-500/650 that they are talking about, which measures pitch and yaw (rotations about the X and Z axes). The IDG-600 which you link to is the older gyro which measures pitch and roll (rotations about the X/Z) axes.

    And as far as getting 3-axes goes, pairing one of Invensense's X/Y dual axis gyros with their single axis Z gyro would give you that in a single plane.

    For those saying this is the part in the MotionPlus, it's not. That's using the IDG-600 which the parent talks about.

    As the article mentions, this is for apps where you only want pitch/yaw and don't care about roll, as in a typical remote control application where you're waving up/down and left/right.

  16. Microsoft body detection by Jope7478 · · Score: 1

    Microsoft is allegedly working on a system that detects the users body movement, no control required. If they get that to work well I'm thinking its going to trump the shit out of any controller based system. http://kotaku.com/5236404/microsofts-full-body-motion-controller-revealed