Intel predicts camera-powered, controller-free game system

by Kyle Orland { Dec 18th 2007 at 3:15PM }

While waggling your Wii remote around provides a decent approximation of natural motion, Intel predicts a future where cameras will provide highly accurate motion data to a game system. "We imagine some future generation of [Nintendo's] Wii won't have hand controllers," Intel Chief Technology Officer Justin Rattner, told Business Week. "You just set up the cameras around the room and wave your hand like you're playing tennis."

It should be noted that there's nothing in the article to indicate that Rattner has any insider info on Nintendo's plans -- more than likely he was just theorizing about what he'd like to see in a future system. Still, the idea of a camera-based 3D motion-sensing setup has incredible potential for gaming. More than the simple video transposition of the Xbox Live Vision Camera or the PlayStation Eye, a multi-camera system could model your three-dimensional movements in real time, in effect placing a digital version of you in the game. The result could revolutionize the way we play games and even how they're made -- after all, why should developers use motion captured performances when the players can provide them for themselves?

Such a theoretical system would take quite a bit of processing power, though, which might explain why Intel is talking it up -- after all, they already have a chip that can perform one trillion calculations a second. The future's so bright, we're using our Wii remotes as makeshift shades.

Tags: camera, future, intel, live vision camera, LiveVisionCamera, playstation eye, PlaystationEye, prediction, vision, wii

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)

Jerk Face @ Dec 18th 2007 3:21PM

See, the thing is... This is stupid. This article is stupid. This isn't news. It's not Joystiq's fault - there has been so little news today that they HAVE to sling shit like this up there.

voloftn @ Dec 18th 2007 3:22PM

I predict I am first post.

samfish @ Dec 18th 2007 3:31PM

I predict you though you were at the Newsarama forums.

Vol @ Dec 18th 2007 3:37PM

You are correct.

Motion based games just do not appeal to me. I enjoy sitting on plush couch, unwinding at the end of the day playing a game.

Games are not a workout. That's why I go to the gym and get away from a TV. Video games are trying to do too much.

Zoesch @ Dec 18th 2007 3:45PM

Pachter is that you?

mr nimblewick @ Dec 18th 2007 4:06PM

"Games are not a workout. That's why I go to the gym and get away from a TV. "

Personally, I hate working out, but I love playing games. Why not try to get in shape while playing?

upz @ Dec 18th 2007 4:57PM

"Personally, I hate working out, but I love playing games. Why not try to get in shape while playing?"

Because that makes playing games an entirely different experience. I've lived in Asia for about 10 years, where the arcade scene is still thriving and filled with innovative, experimental content - much of which constitutes as excer-gaming. The most notable example, and ones of the few to cross over to the West is Dance Dance Revolution, but plenty of lesser known examples exist. There are games where you race by physically peddling a bike, games where you fight raging river rapids by furiously paddling a rowboat, games where you use a camera to take paparazzi photos of on-screen celebrities, and games where you take a dog for a stroll by walking on a treadmill. Whenever a new one of these games popped up, crowds would gather, laugh and cheer at the brave souls who lined up to embarass themselves and amuse the rest of us. Within days, however, the mob of onlookers would dissipate and retreat back to their dark corners to watch the experts play Street Fighter.

My point with all this is twofold. First, it's much more difficult for these games with novel control schemes to develop a gameplay system as deep and involving as a game with traditional controls. They're great fun the first time you try it, but after the novelty wears off, you're left with shallow gameplay mechanics with a shiny new peripheral. Second, sure, there are times when getting exercise while gaming is an added benefit, but the rest of the time, you'd rather just sit down on a couch and play some Street Fighter.

voloftn @ Dec 18th 2007 6:17PM

Mr. Nimblewick:

Wrong.. it may be a slight cardiovascular exercise, but it's nothing compared to actual running or lifting weights. If anything, it should be considered "semi-exercise."

mr nimblewick @ Dec 18th 2007 6:15PM

"Because that makes playing games an entirely different experience. I've lived in Asia for about 10 years, where the arcade scene is still thriving and filled with innovative, experimental content - much of which constitutes as excer-gaming. The most notable example, and ones of the few to cross over to the West is Dance Dance Revolution, but plenty of lesser known examples exist. There are games where you race by physically peddling a bike, games where you fight raging river rapids by furiously paddling a rowboat, games where you use a camera to take paparazzi photos of on-screen celebrities, and games where you take a dog for a stroll by walking on a treadmill. Whenever a new one of these games popped up, crowds would gather, laugh and cheer at the brave souls who lined up to embarass themselves and amuse the rest of us. Within days, however, the mob of onlookers would dissipate and retreat back to their dark corners to watch the experts play Street Fighter.

My point with all this is twofold. First, it's much more difficult for these games with novel control schemes to develop a gameplay system as deep and involving as a game with traditional controls. They're great fun the first time you try it, but after the novelty wears off, you're left with shallow gameplay mechanics with a shiny new peripheral. Second, sure, there are times when getting exercise while gaming is an added benefit, but the rest of the time, you'd rather just sit down on a couch and play some Street Fighter."

I disagree.

mr nimblewick @ Dec 18th 2007 7:19PM

"Wrong.. it may be a slight cardiovascular exercise, but it's nothing compared to actual running or lifting weights. If anything, it should be considered "semi-exercise.""

Hold on now, this type of gaming is still theoretical. Last I checked, there is not a machine like this on the market. You have no idea what types of the games they could make for it. Whether it can be considered excercise or not remains to be seen.

I was just voicing the opinion that I would rather excercise as part of a game than doing a bunch of reps in a gym that charges me $60/month. And I live in the northern part of the country, so exercise outside in the winter is difficult.

gonk @ Dec 18th 2007 3:22PM

we've been wanting that for 10 years now

it's still like 25 years away

StrangeBum @ Dec 18th 2007 4:19PM

I'm still waiting for that damn sphere I can hold in my hand and get thrust into a hyper-realistic video game.

Damn you Sony, release the PSIX!!! You must have the technology after seeing how fantastic the PS3 was.

voloftn @ Dec 18th 2007 3:22PM

Darn.

plyx @ Dec 18th 2007 3:23PM

Just give me a holodeck or one of those devices in Strange Days and I'll be good to go.

Jeremy White @ Dec 18th 2007 3:27PM

Please don't tell me I'm the only one out there who thinks that "motion-gaming" is a dumb idea?

AirIntake @ Dec 18th 2007 3:41PM

Until motion gaming means a goddamn holodeck, I agree with you.

mr nimblewick @ Dec 18th 2007 4:07PM

Thankfully, it's entirely possible to reach holodeck-level gaming without taking any steps toward it. All we have to do is keep increasing polygon counts and total immersion will just "happen."

deaftly @ Dec 18th 2007 3:27PM

Im happy with a traditional controller, fuck this shit

JBourrie @ Dec 18th 2007 6:13PM

A traditional controller? Do you mean a keyboard, a dial, or a joystick with one button?

Joel Rose @ Dec 18th 2007 3:28PM

well, if it hits before 2015, then Back to the Future II would have been right- when Marty shows the kids that they have to use the light gun to play Hogan's Alley.

gonk @ Dec 18th 2007 4:10PM

7 years to go

Jeremy White @ Dec 18th 2007 3:29PM

Exactly. Get to work on making some kind of, all-in-one controller that is COMFORTABLE before we take these futuristic leaps into the future.

samfish @ Dec 18th 2007 3:33PM

That could be cool, just so long as it's also possible for me to sit my duff on the couch and play something, too.

fugori @ Dec 18th 2007 3:37PM

This is going to be so awesome and relevant, just like Virtual Reality was, right guys? Guys?

voloftn @ Dec 18th 2007 3:38PM

I have a feeling virtual reality isn't dead yet.

CharleyTony @ Dec 19th 2007 9:59AM

Actually Bill Gates called it first ,, he talked about that just alittle bit after the Wii was announced, that was even before the xbox 360 came out !!!!

required @ Dec 18th 2007 3:47PM

if nintendo ever did this their cameras would binge disposable batteries in the manner their remotes currently do.

they must have interest in that sector as they always warned against using rechargeables and it took them a long time (GameBoyAdvance SP) to get them into their systems.

mr nimblewick @ Dec 18th 2007 4:09PM

What a strange way to go off topic.

required @ Dec 18th 2007 4:13PM

Kyle Orland brought up Nintendo not me.

upz @ Dec 18th 2007 5:02PM

It's funny, isn't it? Sony and Microsoft are the pioneers in this area with their pre-existing cameras and supporting software, yet somehow the story is spun so Nintendo gets the credit for a technology that they haven't even shown any interest in implementing. What the...?

waynski1457 @ Dec 18th 2007 3:47PM

i dunno, some developers cant even get the wii right...

off-topic: even tho i see this pic way too much, i couldnt help but break out laughing when i saw it. kthxbai!

required @ Dec 18th 2007 3:51PM

By the way, why is this filed under "Hacks, Nintendo Wii, Wireless" when Sony and Microsoft are the ones currently offering camera based gaming?

Just wondering.

Mr Khan @ Dec 18th 2007 4:40PM

Because you care enough to bash Nintendo in 90% of your posts?

LilCo187 @ Dec 18th 2007 3:54PM

"You just set up the cameras around the room and wave your hand like you're playing tennis."

Wow. That sounds fantastic. Because actually holding something in your hand like in real life would...i dunno....mimic real life too much?

J.Goodwin @ Dec 18th 2007 4:02PM

Well, this is exactly what Bill Gates was talking about in one of his comments over the last year about the wiimote. Someone on the lines of "imagine swinging a baseball bat and having it work in game."

Of course, the blogs ridiculed him for it.

I think it's a not-fun idea, but I don't regard the wii as fun either, so maybe it's just a situation where I'm out of step with society again.

LilCo187 @ Dec 18th 2007 4:31PM

Meh, I think the Wii is just fine, but playing tennis by just waving your empty hand around....AND setting up cameras around the room? No.

J @ Dec 18th 2007 3:57PM

Cameras made out of vaginas...

REUYL @ Dec 18th 2007 4:03PM

hax

NATO_Duke @ Dec 18th 2007 3:58PM

Fahrenheit 451 anyone?

J.Goodwin @ Dec 18th 2007 4:04PM

Maybe you live on a farm in Iowa or something, but if you live near a city, I invite you to go for a walk and actually LOOK for cameras. You might be shocked how many you see.

The Dunkin Donuts on the ground floor of the building I used to work in had no fewer than eight cameras in it. Most of which were not watching the customers.

NATO_Duke @ Dec 18th 2007 4:41PM

No, I live in Chicago - I dunno if I came off like a country boy by thinking of Farenheit 451, but I agree, there are cameras everywhere here. Daley has been placing a few thousand cameras at intersections all over our city in order to monitor them like they do in London. They call them smart cameras, because they can see that a briefcase has been left in a wierd spot and alert officials. Its creepy.

Anyway, the Farenheit 451 reference was more towards the idea of the living rooms with full wall televisions where people could feel that they were in someone elses lives - and escape their own. (Even us Iowa farm boys have read the book.)

Obie @ Dec 18th 2007 4:08PM

For everyone that says this is stupid, just wait.
If a game were able to put me in it totally seamlessly, guess what I will buy it.

I bet Nintendo is already eyeballing this for their next system.

required @ Dec 18th 2007 4:12PM

either Microsoft or Sony would beat them to the punch as they already offer camera based gaming.

fugori @ Dec 18th 2007 4:15PM

"I bet Nintendo is already eyeballing this for their next system."

This is why gambling's bad, kids. You make screwball predictions with zero evidence that are in all likelihood false and before you know it you're giving cheap hand-jobs to sleazy businessmen in an alleyway in Bangkok.

Even if this is going to revolutionize gaming (I doubt it), there's no way it's going to be cost-effective by the time Nintendo brings another console to market.

Obie @ Dec 18th 2007 6:00PM

"before you know it you're giving cheap hand-jobs to sleazy businessmen in an alleyway in Bangkok"

Wow, retarded analogies FTL.
All I am saying is "wait and see". No wrong in that.

JBourrie @ Dec 18th 2007 6:15PM

""before you know it you're giving cheap hand-jobs to sleazy businessmen in an alleyway in Bangkok""

Ah, I remember those days...

fugori @ Dec 18th 2007 6:16PM

No, cliched internet acronyms FTL, my friend.

Joke explanation: Bet = gamble. Gambling on something that won't happen = loss of money. The stereotypical image here is of someone being so down on their luck that they resort to seedy means to make up said money, and since sex is awesome, prostitution is the preferred way to go from there.

I'm not saying it was hilarious (my only Jewish writer is a guild member, so I'm forced to improvise here) but I laughed, and I'm the only audience that matters to me, and it also served to make my point, although you missed it - your prediction sucks.

This technology is probably at least 10 years away, if not twice that or more, depending on how Intel's is imagining it. Ninty's next console is not. It's much closer, and it won't be like this at all. "Wait and see" doesn't make you any less wrong.

ComicShaman @ Dec 18th 2007 4:17PM

Aw, they're thinking too small. I want a Ghost in the Shell future, where I can get a full-body prosthetic and essentially become a video game character in real life. They could set aside volcanic islands for people to have vacations in, with anti-gravity platforms spaced 40 yards apart and robotic pterodactyls to dive-bomb you when you try to cross. If you collect enough floating coins (the new global currency), then you can cover the cost of your vacation! Sweet deal, huh? Unless you spend them all at the Holiday Inn Nanotech bar upgrading your cyber-arm with a rail gun.

Who wouldn't want a future like that? Get to work, Intel, you lazy bastards!