E3 2010: Motion Sensor Games Heading to European Set Top Boxes this Month
Softkinetic, Optrima and Metrological Media Innovations will bring this technology to the U.S. this fall
With Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo showing off the latest motion-sensor games at E3 2010 in Los Angeles last week, Softkinetic, Optrima and Metrological Media Innovations have partnered to offer set-top-box and television manufacturers an integrated 3D gesture-based solution that will transform home entertainment. In addition, Softkinetic and Optrima technologies will be offered to media service operators as part of Metrological’s Mediaconnect TV system, enabling Metrological to provide their global customer base with 3D gesture-based interfaces, video games and other interactive gesture-based applications. The commercial deployment of Mediaconnect TV begins in Europe in the coming weeks and is expected to begin in North America by fall of this year.
Softkinetic’s 3D gesture-recognition platform, iisu, combined with Optrima’s 3D and RGB camera, OptriCam, delivers a unique and compelling interactive entertainment experience to consumers of all ages. Softkinetic’s patented technology leverages over seven years of intense development and testing to bring proven solutions in gesture recognition to the marketplace, and was commercialized in 2008. It has been optimized to consume a minimum of CPU resources, allowing it to integrate seamlessly with set-top boxes. The OptriCam offers both depth sensing and RGB capabilities and, optionally, voice recognition capabilities, leveraging Optrima’s patented DepthSense CMOS technology to provide high-efficiency output at reduced cost.
The Metrological/Softkinetic/Optrima reference development kits will be available for developers in the fall of this year. The kits will allow developers to rapidly develop 3D gesture-based applications and video games with the guarantee that their content is compatible with all Intel-based platforms that use the Metrological Operating System. In addition, since iisu supports all available 3D cameras, developers are assured that their content will work with any iisu-compatible 3D camera.
“Metrological has developed a powerful, highly interactive digital home entertainment solution that enables the delivery and consumption of rich, interactive, high-quality content at home,” said Michel Tombroff, CEO of Softkinetic. “By partnering with Metrological, we can provide 3D gesture-based entertainment content without the need for an expensive, proprietary video game console.”
Mediaconnect TV users across the globe will be able to navigate their TV without a remote control by using natural hand motions and can also download gesture-based video games and applications, such as fitness programs. Television viewers will be fully engaged in interactive programming by combining background replacement and gesture-based interactions. The technology has the power to transform the TV viewing experience, literally putting users into the picture with blue screen-style background replacement and gesture-based interactions. 3D gesture-based developers Softkinetic Studios, led by former Microsoft Kinect executive producer Mike Nichols, will also adapt their video game and content portfolio to the Mediaconnect TV platform, providing even more entertainment content for Mediaconnect TV consumers.
Mediaconnect TV, a next-generation hybrid consumer TV entertainment platform based on Intel CE Media Processing technology and powered by Metrological’s Metroconnect Operating System, currently provides consumers with a wide range of immersive applications and services. By adding 3D gesture-based interfaces to this rich portfolio, the device establishes a complete convergence between TV, entertainment, Internet and video conferencing. With Mediaconnect TV, media service operators can broaden their offerings with one simple solution.
“Metrological’s leading software platform combines all of the features of interactive television into a single convenient and easy to use package,” said Albert Dahan, CTO and co-founder of Metrological. “The addition of 3D gesture-recognition capabilities gives Mediaconnect TV users with the most exciting interactive experience any digital entertainment device currently has to offer. We are excited to partner with Softkinetic and Optrima to make this possible.”
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About the Author
John Gaudiosi
Editor-in-Chief
John Gaudiosi has been covering videogames for the past 17 years for outlets like The Washington Post, CNET, Wired Magazine and CBS.com. He has focused on the convergence of entertainment and videogames for outlets like Video Business, Home Media Magazine, Entertainment Weekly, The Hollywood Reporter and Variety. He currently serves as Editor-in-Chief of Gamerlive.TV and is also a freelance game columnist for Reuters and writes for outlets like Playboy Magazine, NVISION Magazine, GamePro Magazine, Official PlayStation Magazine, EGM Now, Maxim.com, AOL GameDaily.com, GeForce.com, and Yahoo! Games. John also serves as the video game expert for NBC in Washington D.C. John was named one of the Top 50 Game Journalists in the world by Next-Gen.biz in 2007. He is the co-author of Scholastic Books' How to Get into Videogames, Prima Publishing's Madden: Twenty Years of Videogame Football and Electronic Arts: The Official History.
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