NASA Technology Enhances ‘Feel’ of Games
Computer game enthusiasts can take interaction to a new level with a product from Immersion Corp. The San Jose-based company has downscaled and mass-produced a version of technology used in NASA flight simulators that can be incorporated into joysticks, throttles and other computer game accessories.
The result, I-Force, enables a video jockey to feel a broad spectrum of physical sensations, from a ball bouncing to the recoil of a fired gun to the undulation of water.
But I-Force offers far more sophistication than the canned responses of some arcade games.
With I-Force, if a player is hitting a ball with the joystick “paddle,” the farther it bounces, the more reactive force he or she will feel.
Immersion is working with several companies to license its technology, and at least two--CH Products and Interactive I/O--will soon release an I-Force-enhanced joystick and steering wheel. Each should cost about $150.
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Digital Fun-House Mirrors: Here’s a chance to mess with somebody’s face--and not get into trouble. Kai’s Power Goo ($50), a new software imaging program from MetaTools Inc., outshines other image-manipulation programs in one very important way: With Goo, changes occur instantly.
The software comes with more than 170 images of men, women, children, animals and politicians, but you can input your own pictures via a digital still or video camera.
Goo’s brushes can be used to move, smear, smudge, stretch and pull the images. The software also makes it possible to seamlessly blend parts of one image with another, giving Boris Yeltsin the hair of Fergie, for example. Progressive incarnations of blended images can be saved, then animated in real time.
Carpinteria-based MetaTools can be reached at (805) 566-6200 or at metasales@aol.com
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Listen to This: San Francisco’s Wild Planet Toys has a new product eavesdroppers everywhere will want to hear about. The SuperSonic Ear amplifies sounds that can’t be heard normally, giving kids of all ages the power to listen to far-off discussions, birds, insects or other sounds.
The product consists of a simple, directional microphone incorporated into a hand-held device that’s shaped like a ray gun.
The product includes headphones with a cord that plugs into the ray gun. SuperSonic Ear will be in stores at the end of summer for about $22. For more information, call (800) 247-6570.
Cycling Marries Recycling: Why let all the recyclable plastic and metal in the world end up in a landfill when you can commute on it?
Huffy Bicycles, that hallowed name in two-wheeled transportation, has developed a product for the ecology-minded cyclist: Eco-Terra, the first bike made largely from recycled materials.
Twenty-five percent of Eco-Terra’s frame is made from recycled steel.
The molded handlebars and the saddlebag fabric both come from recycled plastics, and the seat is made of recycled foam. The pedals and handlebar grips are made from a special material that Huffy calls “regrind” because it’s ground together from excess materials--ranging from iron to plastic--that would otherwise be scrapped.
Eco-Terra also includes two nifty features that aren’t recycled: a five-function electronic monitor embedded in the handlebars that displays speed and time, among other things, and a compass below the monitor.
Eco-Terra is available at major retailers for about $190. For more information, call (800) 248-3391.
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The Cadillac of Reflective Clothing: Studies have shown that a successful reflective material, one that provides high visibility, depends not just on the brightness of the material, but on how easily approaching motorists see the wearer and recognize a human form.
Illuminite, a new process developed by Reflective Technologies Inc. of Cambridge, Mass., treats clothing with a coating that is invisible during the day but reflects the form of the wearer at dawn, dusk or night.
The process, which can be used to create striking and beautiful patterns, implants millions of what the company calls microscopic “satellite dishes” into the weave of the fabric.
The dishes act like smooth mirrors reflecting light back to the source, be it a flashlight or a car’s headlights.
Illuminite-treated jackets, pants and shorts are sold by sports retailers, including Nike and Adidas, and cost a bit more than regular sportswear.
For more information, call (617) 497-6171.
