Sixsense Some The Richer - TrueMotion Controllers (CES 2010)

Bringing six degrees of freedom without the use of accelerometers, gyrometers, IR or LED sensors, Sixsense TrueMotion Controllers continues to impress game studios like Valve Studios (Left 4 Dead 2) as the game is being showcased with the TrueMotion controllers at CES 2010

I've featured the differences between TrueMotion Controllers and the W**'s MotionPlus before but the scene is getting more and more crowded with motion controlled gaming and PC peripherals.  I will be highlighting a company from Taiwan that I

Unlike a Wiimote or Sixaxis controller, the TrueMotion controller operates within a weak magnetic field rather than relying upon accelerometer technology. The degree of accuracy falls to the nearest millimeter, and is updated once every ten milliseconds. This results in a fluid, highly accurate input device that could revolutionize PC and console gaming, as well as lead to some fascinating applications in the engineering design, industrial and medical fields.

TrueMotion  is getting lots of love here, here, here, here 

Using a single transmitter with a six-foot radius range, Sixense TrueMotion can detect the position and gesture movement of controllers without a line-of-sight limitation. As long as the controllers are within the 12 foot diameter spherical magnetic field, it can detect their movement in space along six axes—a Sixense rep proved this by controlling a second tech demo with one hand behind his back.

The control set up that Sixense had implemented at Razer's CES booth used the left-handed TrueMotion controller for much of what the left hand side of a keyboard or controller would do. Angling the controller downward crouched, a flick upward performed a jump, a push forward shoved. It was also used to toss grenades. A flick of the controller left or right cycled through weapons, and after choosing the grenade, an overhand toss motion tossed that equipped item, in my case Boomer Bile.

The right hand controller controlled firing, camera control and melee weapon swings. It was a bit awkward at first, particularly for camera control and aiming, as Left 4 Dead 2 wasn't built with something like Sixense control in mind. But Valve has clearly been impressed by the technology, vowing support for TrueMotion controllers in games using its Source engine. Regardless of the learning curve, the motion control felt spot on, quick slices with the controller resulting in accurate slices on screen.

And here is the rest of it.