No, that's not a modified version of Nintendo's Wii Remote. That's Sixense's latest 3D input tech device they've been working on secretly the past 18 months. It's sorta like the current Wii-mote, but much more precise. The company showed off various tech demos at this years nVision 08 in San Jose, California. Interestingly enough, Sixense's CEO, Amir Rubin, said he contacted console manufactures about implementing the tech into their controllers and made mention that several big name developers have been playing around with dev kits for the last six months.
According to Trustedreviews.com, Rubin said Call of Duty and EA's sports franchises were named as possible titles developers have been looking to integrate Sixense's tech with. While nothing is obviously a done deal, the story says the developers are "all unsurprisingly psyched about the potential." But how is this different than the Wii-mote? While both track the remote's location, the Wii's controller is based on inertia while Sixense's is based on millimetre tracking relative to the base station. How this differs from Nintendo's WIi-Mote Plus remains in question. Either way, I'm sure Nintendo will have a problem with this. Anyone think we'll see some sort of copyright/patent infringement lawsuits down the line?
nVision 08: Sixense 3D Interface - Coolest Thing Ever! (thanks Jeff!)