Xbox 720 Might Come with New Wrist Controlling Mechanism

As the speculation on Microsoft’s next gaming console continues unabated, there are those among us who wonder what new features the company may have planned for the device informally known as the Xbox 720. A new video from the Microsoft research department shows one of these possible new features, a 3D hand tracker worn on the wrist that would help facilitate “gestural interactions on the move.”

Though, the mechanism may seem a bit crude, it does show a lot of promise, if properly implemented as Xbox 720 peripheral equipment. It would include a camera, a laser line generator and diffuse illumination, all with infrared technology, as well as an inertial measurement unit; these four components would all play key roles in how the controller works.

Combining all four parts together, gamers could interact with certain objects without having to actually touch them. This, in effect, would preclude the requirement of a special glove or a conventional controller to perform certain in-game actions.

There are a lot of actions that the wrist controller could perform without the individual having to use his or her hands. These include moving in-game objects around, opening a radio and changing the station or adjusting the volume on said radio.

All this can be done just by snapping or flicking one’s fingers, pantomiming actions (e.g. turning a knob to turn the volume up or down) that do not involve physical touch. Even pretending to hold a gun and fire it could accurately simulate gunfire in a game; this feature of the controller is known as Continuous 3D Interaction.

We do not know whether this technology can be perfected by the time the Xbox 720 is released, but it makes for an interesting and unusual way to play console games. The Xbox 720 is expected to be launched in the holiday quarter of 2013.