Microsoft takes a lot of flak from the community for not innovating enough, but that is simply not true. Since the very beginning, MS has been no stranger to innovation, and the mouse shown above is proof. I have to say, I’m impressed. The piece on the bottom flips up to give the device and 180 degree arc, perfect for ergonomics. Seriously, Apple just found out that mice can have more than one button (imagine that!), while MS is bringing us into the future. Ok, maybe not exactly. But still, that is one sexy peripheral. Especially at the MSRP of $59.95. Should arrive on store shelves before the years end.

link: Microsoft Announces Futuristic Mouse For Holiday Season [DailyTech]

Tags: Hardware, Human Interface by cybereality
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Vuzix, makers of a variety of head mounted displays, are bringing a new tactical heads-up display to the market. The Tac-Eye LT houses a 852×600 SVGA+ AMOLED display, which offers a number of advantages over LCD technology including more natural colors, smoother motion and unlimited viewing angles. The Tac-Eye LT can be attached to standard ballistic sunglasses such as those from Revision, ESS (shown above), and Oakley. Used in conjunction with an UMPC, you have yourself one very light and sporty wearable-computer.

Clearly targeting military applications, the unit is designed to withstand the harsh conditions of warfare with Vuzix also offering a ruggedized mouse, battery pack and in-line controller to boot. However the price also matches its military specs. At $2,495 for the VGA model, I find it hard to see any applications for the consumer market. However, Vuzix does have a number of mass-market product lines so hopefully this AMOLED display technology will trickle down into more affordable models. The Tac-Eye LT is available for pre-order now, and ships the beginning of next month.

link: Vuzix Tac-Eye LT [pre-order]

Tags: Augmented Reality, Hardware, Human Interface by cybereality
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The Tech Report has posted their review of the OCZ Neural Impulse Actuator (NIA), a device which allows you to control your PC with your mind. Don’t worry, you won’t have to stick any plugs in your head (at least not yet). The NIA is a non-intrusive headband integrated not only with an EEG, but also EMG and EOG technology. What this means is that not only can this device read some basic mental states, it can also sense various muscle movements, like of the jaw, or the eyes. The small plastic sensors on the band are embedded with conductive nanofibers, so you won’t have to shave your head or lube yourself up either.

The Neural Impulse Actuator is included with software drivers that allow you to map particular thoughts or actions to different keystrokes as well as view a real-time feed from your head. Potentially it could support any and every game out there, but you can’t map it to the mouse. Only keymapping is possible at the moment, so you will still need a mouse to look around. Even so, this could make for some interesting DIY experiments. The NIA retails for about $150, and is probably worth buying for bragging rights alone. I know I sure want one, and its nice to see OCZ releasing this product at a modest price point.

The reviewer over at The Tech Report didn’t necessarily give OCZ’s product the most glowing review, but surely an honest account. I do feel that it is somewhat incomplete, specifically that the EEG functionality was not tested at any length. That is arguably the main feature of the device; allowing the user to control a PC with thought alone. To me, the mouth and eye tracking seem like secondary features, although the review is a pretty good read otherwise.

link: OCZ’s Neural Impulse Actuator [TheTechReport]

Tags: Hardware, Human Interface by cybereality
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Novint aims to replace the mouse as the “weapon of choice” among shooter fans with their latest product. The Novint Falcon is a haptic controller for the PC, allowing players to experience games like never before. This isn’t like the “rumble” feature you find on many consoles, which is thrown in as an after-thought. The Falcon allows for real force-feedback, in any direction! It can also exert up to about 10 lbs. of force to say simulate the weight of an Ares Predator in your hand, or to fake the “g-forces” you would feel taking a tight turn in the latest aircraft from Versatran.

So imagine you are playing a first person shooter, say Crysis *maxed-out* at 120FPS, and then some enemies start shooting from behind. With the Falcon you can actually feel exactly what direction the shots are coming from. It will also give different levels of kickback when discharging various weapons. Similar to the effect you get on some old arcade gun games. With this idea in mind, Novint is now releasing a pistol grip for the Falcon, along with a sexy new black SKU. And if that wasn’t enough, they are packing it in with Valve’s Orange Box, quite possibily the best compilation of games ever released [outside of Hong Kong].

The new Falcon model goes for the modest price of $189.99 including the pistol grip and the Orange Box pack-in with full support for Half-Life 2, Team Fortress 2 and Portal among other Source titles. If you consider that some force-feedback racing wheels sell for higher, the price of this controller is very reasonable. I’ll be getting one of these for sure, so check back for a full review. But my initial impression is that Novint may have a winner in their hands.

link: Novint Falcon Orange-Box Bundle w/ Pistol Grip [pre-order]

Tags: Hardware, Human Interface, Video Games, Virtual Reality by cybereality
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A paralyzed man, who hasn’t walked in over 30 years, has taken his first steps in decades within a virtual world. The 41 year old Japanese man can barely move his fingers due to a progressive muscle disease. However, researchers in Japan have conducted an experiment allowing the patient to control a computer program, in this case Second Life, using headgear that interfaces with the brain. The headset uses a series of electrodes to monitor the patient’s brain waves dealing with motor functions and translate that into on-screen actions. There was also an affixed microphone for chat functionality. Reportedly this was “the first time a paralysis patient has succeeded in meeting a person and having a conversation in an Internet virtual world”, which is really a touching story. Virtual worlds, even primitive ones like SL, could be a godsend for people suffering from mobility issues (sorry, I don’t know the proper nomenclature). Using brain interfaces can open up a wealth of possibilities for online socialization that wouldn’t otherwise be possible.

This isn’t just the stuff of medical journals. Anybody today, with the requisite knowledge, can start experiments just like this at home. There are a number of EEG devices coming to the market, that would allow similar type of hands free control of computer applications or games. One that is available right now is the OCZ Neural Impulse Actuator and sells for around $160. EEG devices of the past were primarily for the medical community and would cost thousands of dollars. It is just in the past year we have seen consumer devices emerge. It is going to be very interesting to see what type of innovative things developers come up with using these newly available tools.

link: Paralysed man takes a walk in virtual world [Yahoo] // via Kotaku

Tags: Human Interface, Video Games, Virtual Reality by cybereality
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There has been a lot of buzz recently with a series of new stereo 3d displays hitting the market. Big companies like Samsung have even started integrating 3d technology into their mainstream product lines. However, all of the current consumer-level solutions require extra steps to get the 3d effect to work (such as wearing glasses, etc.). There are a few high-end sets available that don’t need glasses, like the Phillips WOW displays, but still require users to stand in a particular “hot-spot” for the effect to work. The guys over at Holografika have come up with another technology they call the HoloVizio. This type of 3d display can enable an unlimited amount of users to view a 3d image on the monitor all from different angles without the use of special glasses.

The HoloVizio line is nothing new. Its been around a few years, targeting mainly billboard-style advertisements (i.e. the big $$$). However, it appears the same team is now behind a new EU-funded research project called COHERENT based upon these holographic-style displays and gesture recognition technology.

“The aim of the COHERENT project was to create a new networked holographic audio-visual platform to support real-time collaborative 3-D interaction between geographically distributed teams,” explains Akos Demeter, spokesperson for the project.

This is something science-fiction writers have been talking about for ages, and it seems we are at a point where it may soon become a reality. There’s so much potential uses for this in the field of education, as well as teleconferencing, immersive gaming, hell, even online gambling! These guys were talking about medical applications and, um, “applying holographic systems for oil exploration”.

But like anything else in the VR realm, theres always a lot more talk than actual substance. But I think these guys have their stuff together. Although it doesn’t look like there any photos of this new system they are designing, I did find this pretty cool video for their latest display, the 120WLD. Can’t embed it, unfortunately, but you can click here to watch it on YouTube.

As you can see from the video, the device accurately displays different images when the camera pans from side to side. This is not using any sort of head-tracking “tricks” like in the Johnny Lee DesktopVR video. The 3d effect is a physical property of the way the image is displayed. So unlike head-tracking methods which work for only one person, this provides an experience for any number of viewers. No idea on price. Its not listed so surely its more than I can afford. But hopefully in about 5 or 10 years this stuff will be cheap enough for the mass market.

link: Star Trek-style 3-D displays make their debut [Physorg] // via: KurzweilAI

Tags: Hardware, Human Interface, Stereo 3D, Virtual Reality by cybereality
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Some folks at the New York based Eyebeam have created an open-source multi-touch platform to rival Microsoft’s $10,000+ Surface. The project, called Cubit, includes plans (or kits) to build the cube-like device and a software platform to develop applications for it. You must add your own web-cam and projector, which the creators say can run about $500-$1000 for all necessary parts. The software uses the webcams to detect infrared light reflected when a user touches their finger to the “screen”. This is the the same technique MS used for Surface, their own proprietary multi-touch technology. However Eyebeam’s open-source solution clocks in at about 1/10th of the price.

Although Apple seems to gather a lot of praise for their multi-touch “innovation” on the iPhone, this technology has been around for a while. One such product that I’ve owned was the iGesture Pad which was released back in 2003. It looked like an over-sized touchpad and supported all types of gestures. Wave your hand to close a program, pinch a file and drag it to copy and paste, use both hands to resize windows, etc. It worked pretty well, and had more advanced programmable multi-touch options 5 years ago than the iPhone/iTouch have today. Yet it floundered on the market and now its discontinued and the company’s gone. The lesson for today: its not how good your idea is. Its all how you market it.

link: Open-Source, Multitouch Display [TechnologyReview] // via: KurzweilAI

Tags: Hardware, Human Interface, Open-Source by cybereality
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