Hasta La Gadget!

When the Nintendo Wii was first released to the world, it was met with skepticism – at least until the world realized that motion based gaming ain’t half bad after all. Heck, it could actually be fun, when you think about it. Well, students Christiaan Ribbens and Patrick Kersten from Utrecht School of the Arts, has come up with this unique design that they have dubbed “Woven”, being a near-future exploration on how wearables could be turned into a viable gaming platform.

The Woven wearable gaming platform will rely on Bluetooth connectivity to a smartphone which in turn, will run an app that enables it to control not only the sensors but display as well. What are some of the hardware goodies incorporated into Woven? Well, we are looking at speakers, haptics (motors) and the 144 RGB LED display that function as the primary feedback mechanism for the gaming garment. Apart from that, bend sensors and a heart rate sensor has also been thrown into the mix, and it all seemed to work pretty well when demonstrated on the self-developed “Spooky” ghost hunting and busting game.

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Ouya enters Engineering Verification Testing phase, now running Jelly Bean, What’s inside the Wii U,

TshirtOS showed us one take on wearable gadgetry earlier this month, and now it’s Woven’s turn. This particular e-garment packs quite the selection of hardware, as you can see above — a trio of LilyPad Arduino boards (and some custom ones), a Bluetooth module, 12 x 12 RGB LED “screen”, speakers, bend sensors, a heart rate monitor, shake motors and a power pack. You’ll need to accessorize, of course, with a smartphone for hardware harmony and to run companion apps. So what’s it for, you ask? Well, the creators are touting it primarily as a “pervasive” gaming platform, and even seem to have a working first title in the form of SPOOKY (think gesture-based ghost-fighting). Other uses (which appear a little more conceptual) see Woven as a workout companion, TV remote, Wii controller, social network alerter or simply a fashion accessory. Check out the videos below to see it in action and imagine all the fun you could have in the five minutes before you’re ushered into that padded room.

Continue reading Woven’s wearable platform for gaming, cool points and a whole lot more (video)

Filed under: Wearables

Woven’s wearable platform for gaming, cool points and a whole lot more (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 31 Aug 2012 05:36:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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