Elsewhere on the US patents site, another proposal caught our attention. This time, though, it's for a far more ambitious form of videogame interaction: Bio-feedback devices.
Don't worry, we're not talking cyborg Shadowrun-style 'jacking' here. At least, we hope not. In actual fact, this patent seems to hint at a headset featuring "one or more bio-feedback devicesfor transmitting to a video game system physiological data of a participant". As in, where your hands are or if you're moving or not.
Forgive our luddite approach, but this sounds like a sort of wearable Wii. Imagine actually having to dodge blows in a fighting game, or duck and dive in a shooter. How it actually works is beyond us - we've no idea what a thermocouple is, nor why the project would demand that such a thing "comprises a polyvinylidine fluoride thermocouple".
The future of games, then? More sensitive buttons, wearable motion-sensing and voice-recognition? Patents are never a guarantee that something will be built (we're still waiting for the SixAxis-linked PSP ), but these are exciting ideas nonetheless. That said, we'd still be super pleased to see a rumbling PS3 controller announced in Tokyo...
