Court overturns patent ruling that would’ve cost Nintendo $10 million

After almost seven years, Nintendo has won a patent case that involved the original Wii. On Tuesday, the company announced that a federal court in Dallas ruled in its favor against iLife Technologies, overturning an earlier 2017 decision that would h...

Nintendo ordered to pay $10 million in Wii patent lawsuit

Today, a Dallas jury awarded iLife Technologies $10 million in its patent infringement lawsuit against Nintendo of America. The suit, which was brought forth in 2013, alleged that Nintendo used iLife's technology when creating its motion-sensing Wii...

Motion-sensing Under Bed Lighting Saves Marriages

I love my dear wife, but she can be a real asshole sometimes. If I get out of bed in the dark to go to the bathroom, I stumble through the pitch black room, navigate the gaping maw of the pile of 57 shoes she never puts away that reside on my side of the bed, silently lift the lid, and then pee on the sides of the bowl so the splash doesn’t wake her. Mostly I do all that to avoid waking her up. I’m a nighttime urinating ninja and ninjas don’t talk.

When she gets out of bed she stomps around, turns on all the lights, and tells me loudly (and at 2am) about the dream she had where I didn’t return her calls for two days before climbing back into bed and not turning off the bathroom light. I’m so buying this motion-activated under bed light system.

When it detects the motion of your feet, the soft LED light turns on so you can see your way to the bathroom, and without waking the whole room. It can be set to automatically turn back off after motion has stopped. and is also perfect for mounting under bathroom cabinets, so it can light the way there too.

The only downside I see is that this will do nothing to get you out of hearing about dreams or the stomping. They should bundle this with padded shoes and a gag of some sort for the perfect sleep system.

Best of all, the underbed light system is currently just $24 on Amazon. That’s much cheaper than even a single marriage counseling session.

[via BGR]

The Realm System Resistance-based Motion Controller: Work Hard to Play Hard

If you liked using the Wii, the PlayStation Move or the Kinect, keep an eye on The Realm System. Like the Wii and PS Move, it has a pair of handheld motion controllers but it also has rubber resistance bands that are tied to a waist strap. Coupled with its software, the controllers allow for games and apps that measure and respond not just to your motion but to the amount of force you exert as well.

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The Realm System comes with low, medium and hard resistance bands, so you can manually increase the difficulty of games or fitness programs. If you’re like me and you’d rather take it easy, you’ll be glad to know that the bands are completely optional since the electronics are in the handheld controllers.

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Forbes says The Realm System will soon have leg resistance bands, though it didn’t mention if there will be leg-mounted sensors or controllers as well.

The Realm System’s SDK is based on Unity and works with Windows, Mac and Linux. Right now it only has six demo games, but its inventors hope to get developer kits out ASAP to give end users more apps to use.

Pledge at least $199 (USD) on Kickstarter to receive one The Realm System kit as a reward. Keep in mind that the controller requires a webcam or a Kinect sensor to work and neither is included in the kit.

[via Forbes]

Leap Motion Quick Switch App for Oculus Rift Toggles Between Real Life & Virtual Reality

Leap Motion, the company behind the eponymous hand motion sensor, have come up with a clever way to let Oculus Rift users see what’s in front of them without taking off the headset. It’s called Quick Switch, an app that switches the feed from the Oculus Rift to the infrared cameras of the Leap Motion sensor and vice versa with a simple gesture.

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The Leap Motion needs to be mounted in front of the Oculus Rift in order to use Quick Switch. With the app installed, all you have to do is swipe one hand 1″ to 3″ above the sensor; you can swipe from top to bottom or vice versa. This will switch the feed from the Oculus Rift to the Leap Motion’s infrared cameras, allowing you to see what’s in front of you. Simply repeat the gesture to jump back into virtual reality.

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You can get Quick Switch as an executable file from Leap Motion, but it will also be included in the company’s Unity Core Assets: VR Edition. This means developers will be able to include it in Unity-based apps, even on ones that don’t involve Leap Motion interaction.

[via Prosthetic Knowledge]

Robotic Spider Dress Reacts to Nearby People: Spider-Sense Tingling!

The Spider Dress isn’t as powerful as Peter Parker’s Spider-Sense, but it’s designed to react to potential danger as well. Designed by “technological couture” specialist Anouk Wipprecht, it has six spiky limbs on its shoulders that move based on the wearer’s mood and the movement of people around.

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According to Fast Company, the dress is equipped with “wireless biosignals, and aggregates this information with measurements of others’ proximity and speed of approach (it can detect movement up to 22 feet away). The dress changes according to these various data inputs, gauging how the wearer is feeling about the people around her.”

The limbs are normally folded as shown in the image above, but if the dress detects an unwanted presence – someone approaching too fast or someone that the wearer is reacting to adversely –  the limbs will extend outwards in a threatening manner. On the other hand, “if you approach calmly and slowly, these limbs might beckon you forward.”

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Spin a web browser and swing over to Fast Company for more on Anouk’s bad ass creation.

Pinć Phone VR Headset Comes with Motion Sensing Rings: Don’t VR & Drive

While the world awaits for the prophesied Oculus Rift to rise, we’re seeing more and more virtual reality headsets that use smartphones as their brain. However, most of these peripherals are content to provide you a case and a pair of lenses. But with Pinć (“pinch”), Cordon Media wants to give you an ecosystem – a new way to interact with your phone.

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Aside from the headset itself, Pinć will come with two motion sensing rings and an app. When combined, all three will let you use your phone in a virtual environment, using head and hand gestures as inputs. The initial applications include a web browser, a YouTube viewer and a maps app.

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As for the headset itself, it’s compatible with the iPhone 6/6 Plus and other Android 4.1+ phones of similar size, such as the Galaxy S5/Note 3/Note 4 and the Nexus 5/6. It folds flat and can be used as a protective – albeit bulky – phone case. It will also have interchangeable lenses for different focus levels.

It certainly looks cool, but I can’t tell if it’s a better way of interacting with smartphones, or if it’s just a gimmick. Also, Cordon Media doesn’t mention if the headset works with other VR software outside of its ecosystem, though I wouldn’t be surprised if it does. Pledge at least $99 (USD) on Indiegogo to get a Pinć headset as a reward.

[via Urban Daddy]

Motion Sensing Neutron LED Watch from Tokyoflash

tokyoflash neutron Motion Sensing Neutron LED Watch from Tokyoflash
Check out the latest futuristic watch from Tokyoflash- it’s the Kisai Neutron and it’s got a neat trick hidden in those curved LED bars. To display the time either press the button or twist your wrist- this watch has a motion sensor! Flick your wrist and the time’s digits display one at a time in bright LED’s on the watch.
tokyoflash motion sensing watch Motion Sensing Neutron LED Watch from Tokyoflash
It lights up like a Daft Punk concert. You actually can set it to always display if that’s how you live your life- on the wild side (or at imaginary Daft Punk shows). It does the date too. The time display has multiple mode choices- either pulsing as the numbers change or scrolling. Check out the demo video for a better look:

Very Tron-like. The battery recharges via USB. The watch comes in 8 different color combinations made from the 3 different case colors and 3 LED colors.
buy now Motion Sensing Neutron LED Watch from Tokyoflash

Motion Sensing Neutron LED Watch from Tokyoflash