A hack for the Xbox 360 Kinect may result in players of World or Warcraft actually getting off their behinds to cast spells and controlling the game with the gesture based controller. The team from the University of Southern California (USC) has created an interface that they hope will bring movement into games that traditionally require no more than the use of a gamers fingers.
The Flexible Action and Articulated Skeleton Toolkit (FAAST) acts as a bridge between games and the Kinect controller making it possible to assign gestures to different keyboard shortcuts and commands. So users can wield weapons or cast spells using actual movements – genius.
The gestures on the video demonstrated some simple controls but are impressive all the same.
The institute has demonstrated the FAAST interface via a video on YouTube (see below), the four minute video lists the benefits of the interface naming the possibility of weight loss, reducing child obesity and lowering the chance of getting diabetes. The interface could clearly appeal to a lot of people and be adapted for any game.
Continues after the video …
FAAST is only currently available for Windows with plans in the pipeline to adapt the system to work with Linux operating systems. We can’t wait to see what they will do next and can certainly see the possibility of future gaming offering gesture based control as well as the standard keyboard and mouse.
Is this the future? Let us know what you think below.
Via: Gizmowatch