During the NFL Scouting Combine this weekend, some players were wearing high-tech shirts from Under Armour that have sensors that are around the chest height. The sensors inside the clothing were used to measure the players’ respiratory system, heart rate and G-forces as they ran and performed other tasks.

According to the NFL, the sensor-laden shirts will help trainers to get players into peak form. The G-force sensors for instance will let the trainer and coach know that the player can’t cut as well from one side as the other so they can work on the off side to improve performance. Eventually, the sensor-laden shirts will find their way to the consumer and other sports.

[via NFL]

The PlayStation Move is actually a set of motion controllers, sort of like the Wii-mote and Nunchuk. However, the PS3 Move components connect wirelessly via Bluetooth, so there’s no annoying cable between the parent and child controller. The Move works hand-in-hand with the PlayStation Eye camera, and as such can be used to create augmented-reality objects inside games on-screen. The Move controllers are designed to provide a highly accurate gesture and motion tracking on new games and Sony says they’ll be able to create much more precise gaming experiences to appeal to both casual and hardcore gamers.

The main Move controller looks sort of like a Mr. Microphone, but with a color-changing LED ball at the top. I’m not exactly sure what purpose the ball serves other than to look silly, but it might be used as a key for the players to know which controller corresponds to their on screen characters.

Sony plans on releasing the Move in three versions, one with just the pair of Move wands (if you already own an Eye camera), a PlayStation Move Starter Kit that includes the Move wands, a PlayStation Eye and a game. They’ll also be selling a bundle with the PS3 Slim and the Move Starter Kit. They expect for the Starter Kit bundle to sell for  $99 (USD) and to ship the controllers September 19th, just in time for the busy 2010 holiday season. You can pre-order the Move Starter Kit now at Amazon.

[via PlaystationTEAM]

The Batman logo-esque Posimotion Helix clips onto the back of your iPhone or iPod Touch, and adds large hand grips on either side of the device. The grip is designed to provide improved gameplay on accelerometer-based games like racing, FPS and flight sim games, and works in either landscape or portrait modes.

While I like the general ideal of iPhone gaming control accessories, I’m concerned the added bulk of something like this defeats the purpose of having a gaming system you can always keep in your pocket. I plan on checking out the Helix in person at CES next week and will let you guys know how well it works.

The Posimotion Helix ships sometime this Spring and will sell for $19.99 (USD). You can pre-order one now over at the PosiMotion website.

The cube also has some built-in memory so even if it runs out of charge while you’re in the middle of solving, you can still pick up where you left off after you recharge the cube. The charge time-to-battery-life ratio is quite atrocious though, 8 hours to charge for 1 hour of play. That’s downright puzzling. I know that if you’re good at it you can solve the puzzle 125 times before it runs out of charge, but still.

Plus it’s freakin’ expensive: Hammacher Schlemmer is asking $150 (USD) for a touchscreen Rubik’s Cube. Well actually the price might be justified, considering that the cube is intelligent: it can offer hints and can even solve itself if you want. Yes sir, I said IT CAN SOLVE ITSELF. Whether that’s an awesome idea or a redundant feature is up to you. I vote redundant.

[via Random Good Stuff]

DishPointer’s next-generation software uses augmented reality technology to overlay the exact position of the satellites on the live video from your iPhone. The application takes full advantage of the iPhone 3GS built-in compass, GPS, and accelerometer to show you the locations of the satellites in the sky. Check out the video below to see a preview of the application in action:

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You’ll have no excuse for those pesky tree branches or leaves getting in the way of your mega 5-LNB high-def dish with this app in hand. And if you’re a satellite dish installer, you’ll definitely want this in your bag of tricks when it’s released.

DishPointer hasn’t revealed when the new augmented reality app will hit, but says it should coincide with the release of iPhone OS 3.1 (rumored to be in September). For now, you can check out DishPointer’s other satellite pointing apps here.

They say, “Controlling is very easy with the iPhone 3G. It has five buttons, four of them you can use for traditional driving and when you press the last one, it unlocks the accelerometer control in the same way as in many driving games available on AppStore.” Check out the video here.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

It took them just one afternoon to conjure this up. You can get the full how-to and read more at their website. Nice work, boys, very nice indeed!

[via GeekAlerts]

Check out the video here, which demonstrates how intuitive the game becomes when all you have to do is tilt the board to make the snake slither and slide around the pixelated board.

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In case you’ve never heard of a monome, it’s a device that has a grid of backlit buttons that can be used for a variety of things, including games. They don’t make a whole lot of them, but you can check availability and try to convince them to make more at the monome website.

Even with the fancy device, though, this game doesn’t seem all that action-packed. And yet, on the faster levels, I’ve been known to blow through large chunks of time playing Snake on my cell phone without being able to stop…

[via Make:]

The mouse is made out of “Chinese flowering ash from Japan’s rural Gunma prefecture.” Wow, that’s specific! It comes with a matching wooden stand. The click button represents Jupiter’s “famous spot”, which I had never heard of, so really, how famous can it be? (Answer: kind of famous.) To get a feel for how it works, check out this video of someone playing with the mouse.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

The kicker: you’re gonna need a lot of cheddar for this mouse. But if you’re feeling flush, go ahead and drop $239 for one at the Japan Trend Shop.

iPong is a variant of Atari’s classic paddle ball game, with a multi-device, multi-player twist. Using some clever trickery, players can actually bounce their ball off of their iPhone’s screen onto the display of another phone. While the game can’t actually detect the proximity of the devices at this point, it does appear to store the exit position of the ball on one screen and transmit that as the entrance point on the adjacent screen.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

Given the fact that it only took the guy who developed iPong a couple of hours to put this game demo together, I can’t wait to see what sort of games emerge when there’s actually time to design and develop. Very cool stuff indeed.

[via Waxy via TUAW]

Steve Gilbertson’s interactive color cube uses a 3-axis accelerometer to detect movements and relays that information to a grid of brightly colored LEDs to create a portable light show in a box.

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Each axis of the accelerometer (X, Y, and Z) directly influences one of the color channels (Red, Green and Blue), so every angle results in a unique color display. All of the electronics, including the array of 54 RGB diodes are packed into a tiny 2″ cube which then “floats” inside of a 4″ white acrylic box, which diffuses the light.

While this is currently a one-of-a-kind gizmo, I’m hoping that Gilbertson finds a way to mass produce battery-powered versions of the cube at some point. I’d definitely want one on my desk.

Unlike meters that just count your steps, the Seiko SlimStick uses modern dual-axis accelerometers to track the magnitude of your movements, giving greater value to more intensive exercise. Just clip the compact SlimStick onto your clothes or stick it in a pocket, and it’ll track your activity level.

The SlimStick can count calories burned over the course of the day, amount of time you were active, the number of steps you walked as well as an overall exercise quality score. It’ll store up to twelve weeks of summary data, so you can check your progress over time.

All those smarts fit into a sleek brushed aluminum case that’s just about the size of a pack of chewing gum. They’re available in silver, pink or gold metal finishes, and retail between ¥5,775 and ¥6,984 (appx. $55 to $67 USD). Seiko is currently selling these only in Japan, where you can find them at AssistOn.

KEYnetik’s motion interface system uses multiple accelerometers to detect not just the direction of movement, but to triangulate where force originates from. The dual-sensor design is also immune to minor, unintentional motions (a.k.a. “motion interference”). The system can detect user gestures and translate them into on-screen interactions. By combining the motion-based interface with side-grip finger controls and joysticks, an entire device can be controlled with just one hand, freeing your other digits for, um, whatever you need them available for.

An added benefit of the design is that it’s totally ambidextrous. Just flip a KEYnetik-powered device over, and it’ll automatically get its bearings and adjust the interface appropriately.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

In addition to the prototype device (above), KEYnetik has already completed a proof-of-concept implementation on the Nokia N95 (below), called “RockNScroll”. N95 owners will be able to download RockNScroll for free by registering on the KEYnetik forums.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

The gestures in these prototype videos are arguably a bit exaggerated, but hopefully they’ll find a way to tone them down and keep users from ending up with some nasty repetitive strain injuries.

While it’s designed as a platform, capable of playing a number of different games and puzzles, the interactive plaything happens to do a great job digitally emulating the old Rubik’s Cube.

The digital puzzle’s 216 mulit-colored LEDs are controlled by touch-sensitive panels and 3D motion accelerometer circuits (like the ones found in the Nintendo Wii).

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Fentem says his Cube will be available in limited quanties from the UK’s Kinetica electronic art museum in the near future.

[via Engadget]

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While I’m a bit skeptical that the video clip could be a fake, developer Erling Ellingsen does have a track record hacking motion-sensors and says he’ll be posting the source code soon. Even if it is phony, I just can’t get enough of that Steve Jobs bobblehead.

[via Gizmodo]

The filing, originally dated March 30, 2007 (but just updated this week) describes a portable gaming system that includes X/Y/Z motion sensing that’s similar to that found in the Wii-Mote. The application abstract describes the system as follows:

“A game system includes a housing to be held by a player. The housing incorporates an XY-axis acceleration sensor to detect an acceleration in an X-axis and Y-axis direction and a Z-axis contact switch to detect an acceleration in a Z-axis direction. These sensor and switch detect at least one of an amount (e.g. tilt amount, movement amount, impact amount or the like) and a direction (e.g. tilt direction, movement direction, impact direction or the like) of a change applied to the housing. A simulation program provides simulation such that a state of a game space is changed related to at least one of the amount and direction of the change applied to the housing.”

Now unless I’m mistaken, that sure sounds like some sort of combination of a portable console and a Wii motion sensing controller. The system would also provide for interactivity between multiple players, so one player’s movements could impact information on the other players’ consoles.

Let’s hope Nintendo decides to commercialize this technology and put it into a real gaming system sometime soon. Given the huge success of the Wii, it seems only natural that the next logical step would be to go portable..

Perfect for those who enjoy skiing, snowboarding, skateboarding or biking, DropZone’s HangTimer measures how much time you spent in the air once your body left the ground. By combining a stopwatch with a 3-axis accelerometer, it automatically detects the second you hit the sky, and the second you land. The result: an accurate reading of your hang time.

The compact device hooks onto your belt loop or your sporting equipment using a durable carabiner clip, making it pretty tough to lose. It’s also water resistant to 3 meters and shockproof so it should hold up to most of the relevant “extreme sports” (although high diving would be out.)

In addition to its hang time measurement capability, the HangTimer is a fully functional clock with current date and temperature readouts.

It’s available directly from the HangTimer website for $99. Once you get one for yourself, be sure to post back with your record times!