Motion-based gaming without controllers is coming - again. We've seen various iterations of the technology, like Eye Toy, over the years but it's never really caught on. Softkinetic thinks they've got the technology nailed to the wall now. They've even had a working version of their equipment running a game at the Colt's stadium in Indianapolis. As one would expect, the game is football related and has the player act as the quarterback. You use one arm to target and the other to throw a football. We got to try out the game and it's remarkably intuitive and reactive. A few seconds in front of the screen had us throwing balls down field. Unfortunately we didn't complete any passes, apparently even the most reactive system can't compensate for a lack of talent.

　　A 3D camera, that looks like a fancy webcam, records your motions, which then get translated into onscreen movement. By using a 3D camera, Softkinetic is able to accurately position the user in the room. Actions such as walking, jumping, leaning, tilting, running, kicking, punching and more work quite accurately. In a rather impressive looking demo, Softkinetic showed us just how many points of data the system recorded. From our point of view, about the only thing the camera couldn't detect was finger movement. We saw a few test games that involved goal tending in soccer, kicking a ball, and even a Super Mario-esque platformer. At the moment the camera system incurs anywhere between 10 to 15 milliseconds of lag. The delay is noticeable, but Softkinetic stated that once retail units are built the lag should drop considerably.

　　Softkinetic representatives stated that the system isn't quite ready for retail. They surmise that consumers will probably see it in homes by 2010. Aside from gaming uses, Softkinetic mentioned that the technology works very well for gesture based interaction with TVs, which were demonstrated at this years CES in January.