Incomputing, amotion controller is a type ofinput device that usesaccelerometers,gyroscopes,cameras, or other sensors totrack motion.
Motion controllers see use asgame controllers, forvirtual reality and other simulation purposes, and aspointing devices forsmart TVs andPersonal computers.
Many of the technologies needed for motion controllers are often used together insmartphones to provide a variety of functions, including formobile applications to use them as motion controllers.
Motion controllers have used a variety of differentsensors in different combinations to detect and measure movements, sometimes as separate inputs and sometimes together to provide a more precise or more reliable input. In modern devices most of the sensors are specializedintegrated circuits. The following items are examples of current and historical methods of tracking motion.
Inertial Measurement Units (IMUs) are used to detect the rate of change in rotation using gyroscopes and change in speed using accelerometers. These are often found together on the same integrated circuit and can be used together to providesix degrees of freedom (6DOF) tracking.
Image sensors are used in conjunction withcomputer vision and are placed in locations such as on handheld or worn devices or in the environment to detect the relative locations of other devices and the environment, or to detect the movements of any or all parts of a user's body. They may be used in combination with paired light emitters that are tracked directly when seen by the camera, or indirectly through reflections of infrared light.
A magnetic field sensor in a device may be used to detect the direction of the earth's magnetic field, or the direction to a nearby base station.
Mechanical sensing methods usingpotentiometers,Hall effect sensors, andincremental encoders have historically seen use as the basis for motion tracking but they have since mostly been replaced for that purpose byMEMS and other types of integrated circuit technologies. These sensors are used to track mechanical connections between a control element and a static object such as an arcade cabinet.
Weighing scales usingload cells have been used to detect balance changes and other body movements through changes in weight distribution and momentary fluctuation in measured weight.
Unrelated to their use in motion tracking, mechanical sensors continue to see much use in joysticks and other controls that are found on motion controllers and other input devices.
Ultrasonic triangulation andmercury switches were seen in optional peripherals for home video game consoles in the 1980s.
Early uses of motion controllers included theSega AM2arcade gameHang-On, which was controlled using avideo game arcade cabinet resembling a motorbike, which the player moved with their body. This began the "Taikan" trend, the use of motion-controlled hydraulic arcade cabinets in many arcade games of the late 1980s, two decades before motion controls became popular onvideo game consoles.[1]
TheSega VR headset was an early unreleased VR device with built-in motion tracking, first announced in 1991. Its sensors tracked the player's movement and head position.[2] Another early example is the 2000light gun shooterarcade gamePolice 911, which used motion tracking technology to detect the player's movements, which are reflected by theplayer character within the game.[3] TheAtari Mindlink was an early proposed motion controller for theAtari 2600, which measured the movement of the user's eyebrows with a fitted headband.[citation needed]
TheSega Activator was based on the Light Harp invented by Assaf Gurner. It was released as an optional accessory for theMega Drive (Genesis) in 1993 and could read the player's physical movements using full-body motion tracking. It was a commercial failure due to its "unwieldiness and inaccuracy".[4]
Motion controllers became more widely distributed with theseventh generation of video game consoles. TheNintendoWii console'sWii Remote controller used an image sensor[5] so it could be used as a pointing device along with an accelerometer to track straight-line motions and the direction of gravity. The Nunchuk accessory for use in a second hand also featured an accelerometer. A later line of accessories and refreshed controllers labeled with theMotion Plus feature added gyroscopic sensors to track all three axes of rotation independent of whether the controller had line of sight to the sensors bar.
ThePlayStation 3 launched with theSixaxis controller included, which featured three-axis accelerometer motion tracking and a one axis gyroscope while not including thehaptic feedback (vibration) seen in other modern consoles citing interference concerns.[6] Both features were included in the laterDualShock 3 controller refresh.
Several wand-based devices with accelerometer and gyroscopic sensors followed, including theASUS Eee Stick,SonyPlayStation Move (addingcomputer vision via thePlayStation Eye to aid in position tracking), andHP Swing.[7] Other systems used different mechanisms for input, such as Microsoft'sKinect, which combinedinfraredstructured light and computer vision, and theRazer Hydra, which used a magnetometer.
Nintendo and Sony would adopt motion tracking using gyroscopes and accelerometers as a standard hardware feature in successive generations starting with their handheld consoles the3DS and thePS Vita, both of which had the required three-axis accelerometers and gyroscopes. In theeighth generation of video game consoles Nintendo and Sony included those sensors as a standard feature of their two handed game controllers, theWii U GamePad and theDualShock 4. The consoles also had support for some devices in the previous generation of motion controllers depending on individual games.
Valve's Steam Controller was designed solely for use with PC's and required its Steam software. Its6DOF sensors were made available for use by games published onSteam, and options available to users allowed the use of its gyroscope as a pointer control. Its motion tracking features would later be adapted for theSteam Deck.
A wave ofvirtual reality headsets released in the 2010s adopted forms of 6DOF motion controllers; theHTC Vive was bundled with wand-like controllers,[8] while controllers known asOculus Touch were released initially as an optional accessory forOculus Rift in December 2016,[9] and became part of its standard equipment in July 2017.[10][11] Both controllers are tracked using infrared emitters placed in the play space.[9][8][12] Oculus later switched to an "inside-out" tracking system forOculus Quest andRift S, where the controllers are tracked by cameras in the headset itself.[12]
TheNintendo Switch hybrid home/portable console and its includedJoy-Con controllers feature 6DOF sensors in each controller in the pair as well as in the main body of the console. The optionalNintendo Switch Pro Controller andPoké Ball Plus controllers also feature 6DOF sensors.
In theninth generation the SonyPlayStation 5 continues to provide similar motion tracking for the includedDualSense controllers, while supporting the use of older generations of motion controllers when playing backwards compatible games.