Motion-sensing, camera control, thought control; it's all been done before, or has it? A team from Queen's University in Ontario has created a new way to play games using a bendable projection screen and a shoulder-mounted projector.
Is the future of gaming just around the bend? Zi Ye and Hammad Khalid of the Human Media Lab at Queen's University in Ontario showed off their bendable gaming creation, Cobra, last week at the Atlanta Computer-Human Interaction meeting. The system utilizes a handheld projection screen fitted with flex-sensing wires and motion sensors. Games are projected on the screen via a shoulder-mounted projector, and when the player bends or shakes the device, the sensors register movement and input. The position of the screen is tracked using a Wii remote camera mounted atop the projector, with infrared LEDs integrated into the screen.
How would it work? One example given in the creators' paper is firing an arrow by pulling back the edge of the screen and releasing it. I'm sure the creative minds in the gaming industry could come up with some more interesting applications. Bending time and space immediately comes to mind.
Of course there are problems as well. Having to hold the screen at a constant position, for instance, or the concept of having to wear a shoulder-mount to play.
Still, this is the sort of innovative design that gets creators of hardware and software thinking. We might never see the Cobra implemented on a massive scale, but it definitely has possibilities.
What would you do with a bendable mobile gaming rig?
Researchers Show Off Bendable Projection Screen for Mobile Gaming [Switched via Cnet Asia]