Hasta La Gadget!

One of the coolest features of the new Xbox One is the extra vibration motors in the triggers. These add a new sensation to gameplay which can provide feedback directly to your fingertips. Now, there’s a mod available for the Xbox 360 controller which adds a similar feature.

The new XCM X1 Plus controller shell not only replaces the outside of your Xbox 360′s stock wireless controller with something much cooler looking, it adds in a pair of rumble motors in the triggers as well.

It’s not clear at this point how the motors are activated though, as current Xbox 360 games don’t pass along data for these triggers independently like they do on the Xbox One. From what I can tell from the video below, they’ve got them set up to vibrate automatically whenever you press the triggers, so I’m not sure how that would feel, or if it would just be annoying.

There’s no word yet on pricing or a release date for the XCM X1 Plus controller shell, but keep your eye out on their website for more info.

As gaming console become more advanced, we’re seeing the big three companies provide some sort of motion-based controller system with their consoles, which Nintendo started with its Wii. Both the Wii controller and PS Move provide some sort of feedback when held, but what if they could advance to a point where you’re given an amount of feedback that felt incredibly real?

Palmer Luckey created the Reactive Grip and showed it off at the Game Developers Conference 2013. The controller uses a combination of motion tracking, a modified Razer Hydra and a 3D-printed housing that contains sliders that can move up or down to provide real-time sensation to what’s happening on the screen. (more…)

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: BioShock Infinite Players React To Boy Of Silence In Compilation Video, Dark Souls 2 Highlighted In 12-Minute Gameplay Demo,

Most device vibration technology is used as pure feedback — either confirmation that you’ve pressed something or that you’ve come across an obstacle. If a prototype developed by Nokia Research and the Helsinki Institute of Information Technology ever translates to production, however, it’ll be as much a part of personal phone conversations as a soft voice or a cheeky text message. The modified N900 attaches a resistor that responds to a squeeze at four different pressure levels, and doles that out during a traditional or Skype-based call as a vibration on the other end. As you’d imagine, the aim is to give family, friends and lovers the closest they’ll get to a hug (or the occasional frustration) when the distance is just too great for an in-person visit. Don’t hold your breath for an extra-lovable Lumia anytime soon: there’s no mention of any near-term production plans, and any adoption would require a platform switch just to get started. But if we ever see “reach out and touch someone” become a lot more than a slogan, we’ll know where it came from.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Nokia

ForcePhone from Nokia Research, HIIT sends positive vibes with a squeeze originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 16 Oct 2012 03:43:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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