Introducing the Future II - Interview with XTR

Posted on Tue 20 Jan 2009 by Keira Peney under Community , Industry News , Interviews .
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Last month, I introduced you to XTR, the new single-camera input method. Today, I’m pleased to discuss the results of the interview I had with one of the developers of the product. Sadly, I can’t directly quote them - as we went in-depth into aspects of the technology. However, if you want to know more, XTR will be presenting to select people at the Game Developer Conference, due to take place at the Moscone Center, San Francisco, California on February 18th - 22nd (booth # 6440 ES). For information, check out their website.

My main concerns with the software were to do with the massive variation and subtlety of different people’s movements. Could the software distinguish between intended and unintended movements? Would video games ‘dumb down’ some movements in order to create the needed level of exaggeration?

Dor - the developer - assured me that they themselves configured specific movements to specific ‘trigger events’. This brought up an image of programming a kick to let fly a punch, and a nod to create a shake - but does subdue worries that the less mobile will be overlooked.

In addition, the natural inaccuracy of most people is taken into consideration. You don’t have to repeat the exact movement you made when setting the thing up - you just have to keep it in that general area.

In other words: “We track all your movements in front of the computer, but only the ‘relevant’ ones that were defined in the game will activate it.”

On top of that, it can recognise the distance you stand from the screen, meaning that you can simply ‘walk away’ in order to do something else.

One of my second thoughts was on the advantages to people who do not find current input methods particularly intuitive, or even downright impossible. Joy-pads and keyboards require a surprisingly high level of precise movement. Some injuries, and some disorders can render video games unplayable. By allowing people to program the input method to their needs, rather than force them to use a ’standard’ design, video games are opened up. By allowing users to write their own gestures in for trigger events, accessibility options are increased ten-fold.

But what about the impact on the video game? Would it increase immersion, or act against it? Would the obvious discrepancy in skill-levels between the player and the player-character create an impossible barrier? Or would it, in the same way as Rock Band, enhance and hone users own skills as they try and keep up?

Dor suggested that it came down to the design of the game. Where the game-play justified such an interaction, immersion would be enhanced. Where it conflicted, immersion would be more difficult.

Of course, this is fairly basic - all games have to be able to ‘write around’ the input methods. In truth, we are remarkably good at assimilating tutorial levels and other self-referential scenes.

Finally, we moved past the entertainment industry, and considered the impact on the rest of the world. Medical procedures, industry, security - there’s long been a sci-fi dream where you wave your arm and your toast gets made. The technology is there, and the application of it can’t be far behind. Dor agreed, pointing out that a single camera is a relatively cheap investment, and the pay-back can be huge.

What is the best use you can think of for 3d motion capture technology? How would you like to see it implemented in games? Let me know!

3 Responses to “Introducing the Future II - Interview with XTR

Aaron Says:
January 20th, 2009 at 4:05 pm

I’d like to see games that don’t just give the player a small set of actions to use exclusively throughout the entire game. Instead, if the programming is simple enough, fill the game with interactions that will be intuitive but are specific to one or a few parts of the game.

If the arms and hands are very basically represented in a game, then simply directing those hands in intuitive motions could accomplish any number of tasks. If the player sees a ladder, it would be intuitive to simply place a hand on one rung, then the other hand on the next rung, and back and forth as the character moves up or down. Any object could be grabbed by moving the hand over an object and closing the hand.

Even the relatively rudimentary Wii technology could be used to make open-ended, explorative gameplay in this way.

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