Tekky said:
The controller has an IR filter over the front of it so that it only sees IR light. Wouldn't make a very good camera.
Plus, it looks like it has some image processing built in so that it's only sending information about the points (LEDs) it sees; it's not sending back a whole image to the console; that would require too much communication (be slow and drain battery power).
With 2 LEDs in the sensor bar, the controller can tell what direction it is pointed with respect to the LEDs, and it can tell how far away it is from the bar (if it can see both LEDs). It cannot detect its own position in 3D space, though. You'd need a minimum of 3 non-collinear LEDs for that purpose (4 is better).
It's great to hear more about the sensor. It does sound unlikely that the remote would send full camera images when in motion tracking mode. Do you think it would be possible for a sensor to be developed that switches between a mode that sends tracking data images and a mode that sends photo images?
As far as the IR detecting the position, it is at least detecting the controller's position in 2 of three directions using the LEDs. I know of devices that can be tricked into sensing the third direction as well with a reverse configuration (2 sensors tracking one LED) so maybe it's possible they've found a trick to get all positional imformation from the sensor bar with one sensor and 2 LEDs as well. If they haven't that would explain why we havn't seen a lightgun style game yet, and the IR sensors would only be reinforcing data for two of the positions.
kangu said:
I have to wonder if maybe the technology is a lot more falible than initially believed. Most of the games that seemed to require tracking got mixed impression, whilst those that used only gestures were generally well recieved.
most of the negative impressions I've seen sounded more like user error than anything else. People just weren't used to the tech, didn't understand how to point the wand, and didn't like the sensetivity to the target on the screen. Other errors sounded like software problems and problems with the setup (particularly Red Steel). Videos have shown the wand working very well as a pointer with extreme precision.
The only hardware related errors I've heard people mention invovle the IR tracking "spazzing out". The IR tracking is searching for the two LED nodes whenever you play in pointer mode. If the sensor doesn't find those two LED nodes it has to guess what it should be doing based on whatever IR imformation and inertial data it receives. People who waved their arms around or stood too close to the screen, likely occluded one of the tracking targets, confusing the device. Another reason the device would spaz out would be if the IR sensor detects more than one LED target. Other targets could be more sensor bars or even retro reflective material such as the emblems on gym shoes. A lot of people mentioned spazzing out in relation to Red Steel, which was the game that had multiple sensor bars set up in a small area without curtains in between them. Nintendo supposedly rearranged these boths during the last day when they realised it was causing problems (how they missed this in the first place is beyond me)