1990: Cue Ball as Input Device

There's been much buzz lately over real-world gaming interfaces such as the Nintendo Wii motion controller or Microsoft's Project Natal. Here's a look at a much simpler but surprisingly effective physical interface nearly 20 years prior, including an explanation of how it works. No complex sensors or computer vision algorithms, it's all a clever arrangement of just a few infrared beam detectors. Ingenious and impressive even by modern standards!

(Uploaded with permission of the copyright holder.)

www.itsgames.com

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• cueball
• cue ball
• pool
• billiards
• user interface
• ui
• chi
• interaction
• computer
• game
• video
• vintage
• history
• historical

[viscountalpha]

I wonder if many of those arcade machines are still around.