CNet Asia

Mobile Ojisan The future is now in the land of the rising sun
Matsushita Shuji, Japan
Jun 15, 2007

K-tai, too, goes to bodily actions

March of Nintendo Wii seems unstoppable. Even the combined forces of Xbox and PS3 pale before this cheap game machine with a 3D motion-sensor remote controller. Only enemy standing before it would be its peculiar bodily troubles affecting the addicted user, like Wii wrist, Wii shoulder, Wii ankle or Wii tendonitis. The serious contender of Wii does not come from a bunch of game machines, but from K-tai terminals. NTT DoCoMo's newest 3G-FOMA K-tais are equipped with motiondetection function. Well, at least, three of them. P904i (manufactured by Panasonic/Matsushita) and SH904i (by Sharp) detect the terminal position and movement by analyzing optical data from their sub-camera (EyeMobile® technology, developed by Gesturetek of Sunnyvale, California). D904i (manufactured by Mitsubishi) sports a tiny 3D acceleration sensor embedded in its shell, just like Wii's remote controller does.

These three K-tai terminals can play DoCoMo's new service, named Chokkan "Instinct") game. But, of course, there is a big difference (or handicap rather) from Wii remote games. Action image of Chokkan game is shown on tiny K-tai screen, whereas Wii games can be sent to larger TV screen, say, 50-inch plasma display. When you have to watch the minuscule K-tai LCD constantly, no extensive body movement would be possible. Rather, mild and gentle games you play. One of the initial releases of Chokkan games was a boxing simulator, Chokkan "Boxing", created by Genki Mobile of Tokyo, playable with EyeMobile® K-tais (SH904i and P904i, not motion-sensor D904i). Open the clamshell and set it on the table. Start fighting against the nasty-looking boxer who appears on the tiny LCD. Your punch movements are detected by K-tai sub-camera and reflected onto the ring image as a purple shadow. Oh, no win by a decision allowed. You have to KO him... ah well, no lady boxer available, sorry.

Genki Mobile is developping some more mad sports games, too. Chokkan tennis, billiard, darts, ping-pong, and so on. All these sports games will cost 100 yen (US$0.83) a month to play. Altogether, 30-odd Chokkan games can be played presently. The number will increase greatly soon, like the bird flu virus. For the coming summer, we will have to face a grim scene of schizophrenic young people who are impudently swinging, shaking and beating their K-tai in crowded trains, street corners and busy shopping malls. Sigh.

About GestureTek
GestureTek is the world leader in computer vision for gesture-based control of information and entertainment systems and displays. GestureTek’s gesture-recognition technology is employed in a wide array of applications and environments, where the user is either stepping on or into interactive floor or wall projections, pointing at a display from any distance, or having their real-time actual video image immersed on the screen.  Public installations and kiosks appear in multiple markets: museums, science centers, military control rooms, location-based-entertainment facilities, retail locations, physical rehabilitation programs, interactive floors or windows, and interactive billboards.  Consumer applications include those on the home PC, console gaming, toys, and mobile devices.  GestureTek headquarters are in Sunnyvale, California, with additional offices in Toronto, Ottawa and New York. For information and/or a DVD or video, contact GestureTek at 416-340-9290  www.gesturetek.com