Sony Patents Ultrasonic Waggle Controller Technology
A while back, there was a video showing a motion controller designed for the PS3. It looked like the Dual Shock 3 controller only that it split in the middle to make for two fists of fury. Really cool looking. But now there is a new patent passed through to create a new motion and proximity controller by Sony. And the images proposed look really goofy. But the technology is actually kind of cool when you think and look at it.
It looks to be a controller that can split and be reconnected in a few different arrays for different styles of play. But the interesting thing is how it will be tracked. There is a bulb that looks to have some form of infrared emitters or some form of thing that reflects light that a camera can capture and translate into motion. Think something like Motion Capture used by game makers and film makers. That’s all fine and good for the motion part, but there could be issues to get the 3D space. But that is handled by another interesting part of the device.
Also built into the controller is an ultrasonic emitter that pumps out a specific frequencies that can be tracked to locate where you are actually standing or the controllers are at. Sounds a bit like sonar. But between the video and audio, it looks like it will be able to accurately capture motions and locations to reproduce them in the game world. The only thing is that it may make you look not as cool as the character in the game. Unless you are actually a ninja in real life.
It will be interesting to see how this pans out and I will keep an eye on it for ya. Below is one of the images from the patent as well as the links to source and the patent submitted.
Source
Patent Information