Tech-Gaming Technology, Gaming, and Culture
Moore’s Law states that CPU processing power approximately doubles
every two years. As CPU power increases, the amount of graphical fidelity in
our games increases correspondingly. While
there is debate among both gamers and critics on whether a title like Halo 3 is
twice as graphically intricate as the first Halo, few would argue that today’s
high definition graphics are significantly more complex, detailed, and beautiful than those of a few
years ago.
So while the output of today’s PCs and consoles has advanced
exponentially, input methods remain relatively unchanged. Many of our current
controllers show little difference from the ten-year old Sony Dualshock controller.
One of the only recent innovations in control has been Nintendo’s Wiimote,
which allowed elementary physicality in place of the typical thumb gymnastics.
One innovation that could potentially change the way gamers
interact with games is the Falcon, made by Novint Technologies. On the controller,
players grab a handle, which is connected by three ‘arms’ to the main core. Players move the handle in three-dimensional
space, moving the handle not only up-down, right and left, but toward and away themselves.
In that 3D space, players can ‘feel’ objects as the Falcon delivers
force-feedback along the three axes at a rate of a thousand times per second. To
further add to the immersion, feedback is communicated to the player, which allows
gamers to ‘feel’ surface textures. Quite a step up from our current ‘vibrating’ controllers.
Pictured: Penumbra- Black Palue HaptX Edition Not Pictured: Eerie tactile injection of enemies.
Previously, gamers have negotiated 3D graphical spaces with
2D controllers, which can result in unintuitive gameplay and control. As new tech like the Falcon entering our
gamerooms, the technology level of input systems is finally nearing that of our
graphical output. We hope to spend some time with Novint’s new PC title built
specifically for the Falcon controller, Penumbra: Black Plague HaptX Edition at E3.
The game allows players to feel, push, pull and throw objects in a completely
new way- imagine Half Life 2’s gravity gun meets virtual reality.
Sound cool, but how much is the controller? It sounds expensive.
Tell them, consoles need this. One step closer to true VR.
2 Falcons for each hand= $400
HD VR Visor=$500
Complete VR Porn=priceless!!!
Reading this article I thought of turning the car in GTA- at one point left become right and right become left; would this controller fix that?
Desert, tell us if it feels flimsy or solid. I might have to get one if the build quailty is there.
Great preview/review. I guess that’s why I always like 2d games- they’re made for 2D worlds.
I still don’t get it. Can you actually feel wood, fur, textures like that?
$199, Mike.
Soon as I see one for $149, it’s mine!
Killer App- Bubble wrap. In this open-ended game you pop bubbles all day.
Who do I get in touch with to make that happen?
Looks menacing. Like this thing will get up in the middle of the night, walk on its arms and kill you. Yet, I still want one.
I don’t quite get it, but I guess with hardware you don’t have to. I do need to try this before I commit.
Moore was disproved; CPUs can’t always double in size.
Cool gadget.
Looking forward to the impressions, how about some video?
Saw the pistol grip, I want to feel the feedback on that!
I’m interested in how textures are conveyed to the player. I went to the site but still don’t understand.
Cool idea. How much feedback does it have, though? Find out how strong it is…
Haha, I have a high-tech speaker system that looks just like it. Of course I can’t play games with it, but the design in the same.
Id love to see a superhero game use this device
Wow, put the wiimote to shame!
Does anyone think this will make our current controllers obsolete? I for one, don’t.
Doug, I think the technology may become integrated into future controller designs. Think of this as the prototype.
LOL at ‘thumb gymnastics’
Id be interested in knowing if a more powerful CPU is need or how CPU extensive this controller is, if they have to monitor and give feedback a thousand times a second.
Seems like the game might have to be scaled back a bit.
A good point was raised here, were still using old controllers. Maybe, that’s why the Wii is so successful- they rethought the control interface.
I guess the big question is can this be done cheaply?
Sounds cooler that Alaskan Ice Cream. How big is the handle? You’d think your hand might get sore from holding the ball after awhile
From the look of it, it’ll be just fine for southpaws like myself.
I wish someone made quality left handed controllers.
Hi, I’m Novint’s CEO. I’m active on message boards (tomnovint), so if you ever have a question on the Falcon you can ask at Novint’s message boards too, and I’ll answer. comments below.
Sound cool, but how much is the controller? It sounds expensive.
— It is currently a MSRP of $189, but you can find it cheaper at some places. Check Tigerdirect or Fry’s for retail, or tigerdirect.com, amazon.com, circuitcity.com as some places to try.
Tell them, consoles need this. One step closer to true VR.
— got it. We plan to do so.
2 Falcons for each hand= $400
HD VR Visor=$500
Complete VR Porn=priceless!!!
— that’s hilarious. We’ll pitch mastercard on the commercial and see what they think
Reading this article I thought of turning the car in GTA- at one point left become right and right become left; would this controller fix that?
— we just came out with a racing game, called XLR8. We’re also coming out with Need for Speed Pro Street, and many other racing games we can’t announce yet. We’re also coming out with a steering wheel grip, which will make the right-left control very intuitive – like a real car, but unlike current force feedback wheels, you’ll feel high fidelity forces in every direction (see the video link below).
Desert, tell us if it feels flimsy or solid. I might have to get one if the build quailty is there.
— one of our most common bits of feedback is how surprised people are when they see how solidly built it is.
Great preview/review. I guess that’s why I always like 2d games- they’re made for 2D worlds.
— good point
I still don’t get it. Can you actually feel wood, fur, textures like that?
— yes, you can feel different textures accurately. The texture app is one of our favorite demos. check out this video link with Veronica Belmont – it shows some texture interactions, along with other games.
http://home.novint.com/products/watch_demo.php?id=7
Killer App- Bubble wrap. In this open-ended game you pop bubbles all day.
Who do I get in touch with to make that happen?
— great idea
Looks menacing. Like this thing will get up in the middle of the night, walk on its arms and kill you. Yet, I still want one.
— I caught mine trying last night, so you do have to be careful. The gameplay makes up for the risk though.
I don’t quite get it, but I guess with hardware you don’t have to. I do need to try this before I commit.
— you can try it at Fry’s or TigerDirect if you have a store near you (novint’s website lists stores near you). We have a 30 day money back guarantee in case you want to try it, and you don’t like it.
Looking forward to the impressions, how about some video?
— Novint’s message boards have a lot of great feedback as one source. We’re developing an active community. Here’s a video I recently did on a game we just came out with, Called XLR8, as well.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gi8pssf8py0
check out how the Falcon reacts to the game
(comments continued)
also, check out some other media highlights. We get a lot of great reviews.
http://home.novint.com/news/media_highlights.php
Saw the pistol grip, I want to feel the feedback on that!
— The pistol grip is going to be awesome. It is coming out this summer. We always have long lines at trade shows
I’m interested in how textures are conveyed to the player. I went to the site but still don’t understand.
— when you hold onto the device, you can move around a 3D cursor, when the cursor touches something, motors in the device turn on (it is essentially a small robot), and you can feel it. Virtual objects are solid, and you cannot move through them – you can slide the 3D cursor across the surface of an object. We also have algorithms that add realistic textures. The touch is so realistic that we have done medical simulators, and surgeons have told us it feel like a real life medical procedure – it’s very powerful. Have a look at some of the videos above, however one thing we say is one touch is worth a thousand pictures.
Cool idea. How much feedback does it have, though? Find out how strong it is…
— the forces are pretty strong – see Veronica Belmonts reaction to catching a pitch in the link above.
Haha, I have a high-tech speaker system that looks just like it. Of course I can’t play games with it, but the design in the same.
— where can I see a pic- I’m curious.
Id love to see a superhero game use this device
— We have a lot of games coming out, including games with psi powers for example, where you can feel very powerful. We don’t have a superhero game specifically planned, but it would be fun (I’m a big fan of City of Heroes – I’d love to do that game in the future). We are putting together a lot of publisher deals right now, and expect to be coming out with dozens of AAA titles. We are currently releasing a game a week. As an example showing our licensing model works well, we closed a deal with EA for Madden 08, Tiger Woods 08, NBA Live 08, Need for Speed Pro Street, Battlefield 2, Battlefield 2142, and some of their upcoming games. We have other publisher deals in the works with similar numbers of titles.
Wow, put the wiimote to shame!
— I agree 😉
Does anyone think this will make our current controllers obsolete? I for one, don’t.
— I do. The vision of Novint is to fundamentally change computing. Whether it is ultimately us, or someone else, this is a technology that will become ubiquitous in computing – it is an entirely new field of computing, not just a gaming controller.
Doug, I think the technology may become integrated into future controller designs. Think of this as the prototype.
— I think you’ll see it as more than a prototype when you try it, and especially given the pricepoint and the game support we’re developing. Check out our reviews, as an example
(final comments)
Id be interested in knowing if a more powerful CPU is need or how CPU extensive this controller is, if they have to monitor and give feedback a thousand times a second.
Seems like the game might have to be scaled back a bit.
— if the computer runs the game, then it will run it with the Falcon. There is very little overhead. Our original work back in 1995 was done on an old 386, for example.
A good point was raised here, were still using old controllers. Maybe, that’s why the Wii is so successful- they rethought the control interface.
I guess the big question is can this be done cheaply?
— I think we’re at a pretty reasonable price point right now, but with volume over time we expect to be able to get under $99 retail, hopefully quite a bit below. Even now, at $189 and the games we are lining up, I think it is a great deal given it is a gaming experience you cannot get anywhere else.
Sounds cooler that Alaskan Ice Cream. How big is the handle? You’d think your hand might get sore from holding the ball after awhile
— we’re coming out with a pistol grip, and will have many other handles. I have been playing XLR8 in 6-7 hour sessions. If you hold the handle the right way and get your workspace set up the right way (elbow on chair’s arm rest and wrist straight) it is very comfortable, but future grips will improve ergonomics as well.
6/3/2008 2:56 PM Cuervo wrote:
From the look of it, it’ll be just fine for southpaws like myself.
— cool
I wish someone made quality left handed controllers.
— my wife is a lefty – it is symmetric for right and left handers
Hot stuff! Hey, nice replay from the CEO!
Hey Tom, thanks for the input!
Great product you got there.
Tom, great feedback. You seem like a great guy.
My question: Where did the get the idea for this?
I’m not tom, but I got this off the “Management” section of novint.com:
“Prior to starting Novint, Tom Anderson led the development of some of the first 3D touch applications in the world at Sandia National Laboratories.”
Seems he worked on 3D controllers with touch feedback for scientific, research, and design purposes (business tasks) then decided “Hey the touch sensation would be huge in the gaming industry.” Or at least that’s the way I imagine it happened.
I actually own a Falcon too. Bought one of the first 1,000 limited edition ones. I also have the racing game (XLR8) and Penumbra Black Plague.
The racing game is fun and the Falcon sure makes a far better controller than my xbox 360 for windows controller, but Penumbra seems like a game that was originally conceived for the Falcon. There’s a mouse and keyboard version of Penumbra too that people can try, but imagine if in Penumbra you pick something up with your mouse and your mouse gets heavier. You start running with the rock and your mouse resists your attempt to slow down because of the mass of the rock. Mouses can’t do that, but that’s what the Falcon does. Not sure if you’re allowed to link other sites but IGN under the Gear channel just did an article about black plague for the falcon at http://gear.ign.com/articles/878/878022p1.html
Hmm, seems when you reply to somebody it makes it black text with a black background? Even I had trouble rereading it and I already knew what I’d said. LOL
Here’s a copy/paste that hopefully will be black text on white background like all the other posts:
I’m not tom, but I got this off the “Management” section of novint.com:
“Prior to starting Novint, Tom Anderson led the development of some of the first 3D touch applications in the world at Sandia National Laboratories.”
Seems he worked on 3D controllers with touch feedback for scientific, research, and design purposes (business tasks) then decided “Hey the touch sensation would be huge in the gaming industry.” Or at least that’s the way I imagine it happened.
I actually own a Falcon too. Bought one of the first 1,000 limited edition ones. I also have the racing game (XLR8) and Penumbra Black Plague.
The racing game is fun and the Falcon sure makes a far better controller than my xbox 360 for windows controller, but Penumbra seems like a game that was originally conceived for the Falcon. There’s a mouse and keyboard version of Penumbra too that people can try, but imagine if in Penumbra you pick something up with your mouse and your mouse gets heavier. You start running with the rock and your mouse resists your attempt to slow down because of the mass of the rock. Mouses can’t do that, but that’s what the Falcon does. Not sure if you’re allowed to link other sites but IGN under the Gear channel just did an article about black plague for the falcon at http://gear.ign.com/articles/878/878022p1.html
$99 would be awesome for this.
Black text on black background problem fixed.
Let the conversation commence!
Are the limited editions worth more than the retail price now?
Ualdayan, what do you think of Black Plague? Is is a killer app for the Falcon?
I’d like to hear more about the proprietary games for this. it does sound pretty amazing.
I just figured out who Veronica Belmont is- from CNET. She’s hosting a new PPV Sony show.
Do you remember the adventure game genre? Space Quest/Kings Quest/Police Quest/Day of the Tentacle/Monkey Island/etc. where you would have to combine items to figure out ways past obstacles? It’s like that except you’re combining things in a more logical way.
Mind if I spoil just the first 2 puzzles for example?
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
You’re stuck in a makeshift cell in what used to be a research facility. You look around to see a locked door with no apparent way out, you see shelves on the wall with things like painkillers. You see a desk that has a vice attached to it, and a note in the top drawer talking about something related to the research they were doing and whatever virus they’ve accidentally been infected with. There is an old coin on the floor. You see a metal freestanding shelf against a wall. The roof is leaking down on you with the message it looks like it could fall in on you at anytime. You start pulling things away from the wall, and after you shove the metal shelving over you find a vent behind it. The vent however has screws that you can’t turn with your fingers.
How do you get out?
If you said – take the old style coin, put it in the vice, flatten it, and use it on the screw then you’d have gotten out of the room first.
Now you’ve going through the air conditioning pipe. It drops down into a room with a working coke machine. All the exits are blocked off. You buy a coke, then go back to the AC pipe headed in the direction you were before. You come to a two way path. To the right is something leaking from a pipe. You look at it and it says it looks like it’s cold enough to kill instantly. You go left and find a freezer room where the meat has all spoiled and the thermostat says a very high temperature. Clearly the coolant wasn’t reaching the meat freezer. To get back out you have to stand a chair upright, and jump on top of it.
I chose to get by this by pouring the coke I’d got earlier (the ice cold coke as it described it in your inventory) onto the thermostat. It thought the room was cooler, and turned off the coolant going through the pipes. I’ve read that somebody else propped a box up on the chair, hoisted it up into the piping and used it as a shield to get by the leaking coolant.
To do the vice thing for example you put the coin in the vice, then with the Falcon you move it to where your characters hand would be on the vice grip. Then you push a button to make your guy grip the handle. Then you start turning the falcon in a vice motion. It gets harder to turn though as you go along.
Hey, Ualdayan, how much resistance can the device put out? Is there a point where the controller itself lifts. I guess this would be when the force of the user is greater than the weight of the controller, if that makes sense.
Hey, what do you use as an action button? If it is comparable to a mouse…
The default, ball grip has 4 buttons on it. One in the center, and three around it. The pistol grip has a trigger and buttons on the side I believe. (they haven’t released it so I’ve only seen pictures)
Anonymous: Yes, I have had that happen before. I don’t really know how to describe the resistance it puts out, I mean there are math terms I could copy and paste, but I’m assuming you’d be able to relate them to real life terms about as well I could which is not too well. But yes, it can resist you moving it in one direction enough that you end up picking it up rather than getting the grip to move up if you were trying really hard to get it to move up when it didn’t want to. (like your ingame hand inside penumbra being in action mode touching something and you put your game hand under a big heavy desk and try lifting up.)
Hey, Thomas Anderson; Neo is making controller now? j/k!
Thanks for the reply and honesty, Ualdayan.
http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/peripherals/hands-on-with-novints-3d-game-controller-228712.php
Hands-on
I read about this controller a little while ago. Nice to see some innovation in input methods.
I agree with would be perfect for use with Maya.
Thinking about about getting this with my stimulus check.
http://www.circuitcity.com/rpsm/Ntt/falcon/searchType/user/Ntk/Challenger/Ntx/mode+matchallpartial/N/90000141+42414738/link/ref/rpem/ccd/sitewidesearch.do
There’s a $40 off $200 coupon floating around the net. So i might grab a DVD to save $30 bucks. Anyone know of a better deal?
Just got one from circuit city, for about $160. Thanks, Udon!
Bought one today. It’s so F^^^&^ing amazing. I love it!!! I just wish it came with a few more games. The pool game is theshit.
Bought one today! (its payday)