The Way that Motion Video Games Work

Video games have always been popular with children and adults alike and now the most popular are the motion video games, such as the Kinect and the Nintendo Wii. These game consoles are always improving, but exactly, how they are able to change your movement into a movement on the screen?

Motion sensors are not yet perfect, which means that the games consoles always need to be improved. The sensors are not always able to pick up the tiniest of movements even though they are sometimes needed for a certain game. Motion sensors are able to send an electronic signal through the game, which then shows the movement on the screen.

Motion sensors use infrared detectors though infrared waves. These are not visible to the naked eye and they work on heat. Everything is able to generate heat, especially the human body. The sensors are able to pick up on the changes in the heat and then send the response to the motion video games. It is very similar to the way that burglar alarms set off an alarm when someone has entered. There are also sound wave detectors, which use microwaves rather than infrared motion detectors. The waves are constantly let out and nothing will move if the return pattern is just what was expected. However, once the pattern changes, an action will be triggered. Automatic doors operate to this very similar way.

Video games use a completely different style of motion sensor. This new technology is called an accelerometer and is a computer chip which is placed within the controller of the device – whether a Wii remote or the Kinect. The chip is able to consider all movement and then convert it into the movement on the screen. There are still problems with this technology because it is still unable to consider the smallest of movements.

It is worth noting that this use of motion technology was originally for the use of motion video games. The chips were invented for the use in the military to help with the guidance of missiles. They were not the small chips that are now used in kinect for the xbox360 and were a very expensive piece of equipment.

Want to find out more about motion video games, then visit Janet Gaye Walker’s site on how to choose the best kinect for the xbox360 for your needs.