Aiken Labs shows off modular motion-sensing game kit, we give it a swing (video)

If you’re looking to get your motion-controlled gaming fix, there are plenty of ways to go — cameras , electromagnets and accelerometers , for starts — but most figure you’ll buy a single peripheral, a few plastic accessories , and call it a day. That’s not the Aiken way. North Carolina startup Aiken Labs wants to sell you a set of tiny boxes that you can stick on any body part or toy you own, each with a full inertial measurement package (three-axis accelerometer, magnetometer and gyroscope) inside. The boxes connect to a base station over 802.15.4 wireless that doubles as a USB recharging unit for the lot, and you can connect up to eight modules to track 24 degrees of freedom at a time. It’s not an elegant solution, to tell you the truth, particular given the hacked-together nature of the prototype devices we saw on the CES 2011 floor, but we love the idea of simply affixing a box to a helmet to get instant head-tracking support in our favorite PC titles. Investor Chris Aiken tells us a starter set will ship for about $300 with two sensors and the base station in the second quarter of this year — additional sensors should run $100 each — and you can see what it looks like in a video right after the break. Gallery: Aiken Labs Immersive Motion gaming sensors, hands-on Continue reading Aiken Labs shows off modular motion-sensing game kit, we give it a swing (video) Aiken Labs shows off modular motion-sensing game kit, we give it a swing (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 11 Jan 2011 08:22:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink

Posted by on January 11, 2011. Filed under News, Tech. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry