Ever get tired of using your hands to control things in your first person shooters? Fear not! Grassroots innovator, Ben Krasnow, has a solution for you: A controller you sit on!
In theory, it’s not unlike the Wii Balance Board but instead of standing on it, you’re sitting. Crafted together using a store purchased body weight scale, an old computer ball-mouse, and an Xbox 360 controller circuit board, this homemade controller allows you to move in the virtual space by shifting your weight appropriately. (You can find a technical demonstration of the device and how he made it here.) Shifting from side to side turns your viewpoint will leaning forwards or backwards moves you. While it sounds awkward, a video demonstration of device makes it seem surprisingly natural. Krasnow himself acknowledges that the technology could be even further improved with additional software enhancements. While it can be argued that a posture-based controller by itself is somewhat pointless, the real potential lies in combining it with virtual reality. Having the freedom to freely turn your head using the Oculus Rift and controlling your movement using a posture-based controller frees your hands to interact in other ways. Further combine this with a camera-based motion controller, like Extreme Reality’s, and you are one step closer to total immersion as you could use your hands to naturally interact with the virtual world as you see fit.
