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Razer Hydra Brings Motion Control To PC Gamers

Posted by Soulskill on from the flailing-at-your-screen-is-a-fundamental-right dept.

Zothecula writes "While motion controllers are becoming a staple for console gamers with the release of the Wii, PlayStation Move and Microsoft Kinect, PC gamers have been left wanting. Razer is looking to change that with its Hydra motion controller which has been developed specifically for PC gamers. Unlike console-based motion control systems, the Hydra uses magnetic tracking technology by way of a base station that emits a magnetic field that Razer says allows the exact location and orientation of the handheld controllers to be detected with millimeter accuracy."

14 of 111 comments (clear)

  1. Old school by gr8_phk · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Great, now lets get the 3d head mounted display - which is where this type of tracker was originally used way back when - and get on with the real 3D environments. I played Dactyl Nightmare in the early 90's and have been waiting for that to arrive at home for like 16 years. And that was powered by what? An Amiga?

    1. Re:Old school by dicobalt · · Score: 2

      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CAtrkMGNp0o&feature=channel_video_title

  2. Pass by Stratoukos · · Score: 3, Insightful

    While motion controllers are becoming a staple for console gamers with the release of the Wii, PlayStation Move and Microsoft Kinect, PC gamers have been left wanting.

    No, not really.

    --
    It may be 7 digits, but at least it's a semiprime
    1. Re:Pass by an+unsound+mind · · Score: 2

      PC isn't supposed to be anything, especially nothing defined by consoles.

      Computers are versatile and are hundreds of things depending on the user, the software and the hardware. They are not the "anti-console", and console-like gaming fits the PC just as well as indie games, boring shooters and office tools.

      Don't define yourself by what you're not. And more importantly, don't use that to define others.

    2. Re:Pass by elrous0 · · Score: 2

      There have been numerous RTS's that work just fine with controllers. "Halo Wars" was a particularly successful example. PC snobs who say you "can't play such-and-such type game with a controller" remind me of my roommate who used to say that consoles would never have a decent FPS because no controller could be possibly ever handle one. Then Halo, Gears of War, Bioshock, et. al. came out and he had to eat his words. Today he's probably saying the same thing about MMO's, even as DC Universe Online is starting to prove that wrong.

      --
      SJW: Someone who has run out of real oppression, and has to fake it.
  3. millimeter accuracy by Khyber · · Score: 2

    Not from a magnetic field from any reasonable distance, not by itself, liars.

    You need a whole slew of additional sensors to even get close to such accuracies.

    --
    Still waiting on Serviscope_minor to wake up to fucking reality and realize that Jessica Price isn't going to fuck him.
    1. Re:millimeter accuracy by Skidborg · · Score: 3, Funny

      It is to a millimetre accuracy, it's just that that is also the full motion range of the controller.

      --
      Supporter of the +1 Over Dramatic mod option. In memory of apk.
    2. Re:millimeter accuracy by Skidborg · · Score: 2

      ...Why is this modded informative? I didn't even read the article.

      What is wrong with you?

      --
      Supporter of the +1 Over Dramatic mod option. In memory of apk.
    3. Re:millimeter accuracy by Peteskiplayer · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Not from a magnetic field from any reasonable distance, not by itself, liars.

      You need a whole slew of additional sensors to even get close to such accuracies.

      The Polhemous Liberty and other devices have been around for a while now and offer 0.03" accuracy with 6DOF: http://www.polhemus.com/?page=Motion_Liberty

      These only use a single sensor (for a single location, can use many with one base station for multiple points tracking), I've used them for motion tracking and they seem pretty accurate to me. I'm not sure what you consider reasonable range, but considering the Razer system is supposed to be used with a PC, I'm guess you're not counting in the 10s of metres. This system has an optional source which can get you 5 metres of accuracy from the base station.

      These are quite expensive (in the thousands of pounds sterling) so would be interesting to see how Razer managed it on the cheap.

  4. Obligatory ZP by Burning1 · · Score: 2

    Obligatory Zero Punctuation on Motion Controls.

  5. Re:Magnets? by ben+kohler · · Score: 3, Informative

    TFA: "Razer says the magnetic field put out by the Hydra base station is 20 times weaker than the Earth's magnetic field, so it shouldn't affect objects such as credit cards, HDDs or speakers in the surrounding area."

  6. There are some products out there by FluffyBob · · Score: 2

    The flight sim community has been using TrackIR to control POV for quite a few years now.

  7. Re:Slashvertisement by uofitorn · · Score: 2

    ...and I would like to subscribe to your stone tablet.

    --
    "What kind of music do pirates listen to?" -Paul Maud'dib
    "Yeeeaaarrrrr n' Bee!!" -Stilgar, Leader of Sietch Tabr
  8. It is called virtual reality by networkzombie · · Score: 3, Funny

    Motion controller? I want motionless controllers. I can frag 10 players with a slight wrist motion and even that is too much work. I want sensors connected to the back of my skull that let me tea-bag players without moving at all. I want to be suspended in a viscous fluid with my eyes closed fully submersed in virtual reality. I've played Wii tennis, and it's great and all, but real tennis is better. If I want to dance, dance revolution than I'm old enough and rich enough to go to a club in L.A., with a woman. One that smells nice. Need exercise? Go outside! When I game I need to be a cybernetic killing machine or a flying space monkey with a doomsday device. Waving my arms around in my living room is fucking stupid. I stopped playing portal 2 to post this rant. Let's see them do Portal 2 with a Kinect. Sorry, it won't work. The next games shouldn't even need you to open your eyes, because even that is too much. All the interaction should be in the game using virtual reality. That's why computers were invented. And porn.