"Duck Hunt"-Like Input Device...

Posted:
in Future Apple Hardware edited January 2014
"Duck Hunt"-Like Input Device...



Remember "Duck Hunt" on nintendo...



Remember how you pointed that gun at the screen and shot ducks out of the sky...



Well after my recent bad purchase/experience of a tablet/pen input device, I thought why dont they use that same technoligy that was used to localize the position of the aiming gun in "Duck Hunt" for a pen input device...



Then you could use a pen that would "know" axactly where you wanted to be... and what you were doing... maybe it could use bluetooth or airport to relay nib pressure...



<a href="http://www.wacom.com/lcdtablets/index_18sx.cfm"; target="_blank">Yes I know there are LCD pen interfaces...</a> but they cost an "arm and a leg"... My idea is just the wireless pen with a optical sensor fiberoptic tip and a plug in...



say sell it for maybe $50 -100



------------------------------------



© FERRO 2001-2002



[ 04-19-2002: Message edited by: FERRO ]</p>

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 15
    xmogerxmoger Posts: 242member
    I see two problems. First, that lightgun wasn't very accurate, nintendo later released a bazooka type lightgun that had single (TV) pixel accuracy, but I don't know if precise optics could be made into a pen that could be held at a variety of angles and possibly 'looking' at different pixels on the display. Second, that technology required flashing an alternate image on the screen whenver the trigger was pulled (black screen w/ a white dot). When shooting ducks, you have two possible states, hit or miss. When finding position on a 1024x768 screen, you have ~80,000 different points to pick from. Maybe put a different color at each pixel and flash it up on the screen maybe 40 times a second. I would suspect that reliability would be poor (if it even works) and the flashing would get annoying.
  • Reply 2 of 15
    ferroferro Posts: 453member
    Well it was a halfbaked idea... I didn't really know how that gun ever worked anyway...



    I was just thinking that if there was some way to detect which pixel was where, it would be really easy to just use this theoretical pen on the LCD in front of me... I cant say I see much more than a mm between the surface and the pixel...



    Like I said it was halfbaked...



    ------------------------------------



    © FERRO 2001-2002
  • Reply 3 of 15
    [quote]Originally posted by FERRO:

    <strong>I thought why dont they use that same technoligy that was used to localize the position of the aiming gun in "Duck Hunt" for a pen input device...

    </strong><hr></blockquote>



    good thinking though. crap, that was more than 15 years ago!... it amazes me how sometimes technology is so fast, but then at the same time, in 84' we had a gun that precisely shot small ducks on a standard tv screen!
  • Reply 4 of 15
    matsumatsu Posts: 6,558member
    First,



    VERY nice thread idea, I like it! Original, but without the typical 'what if' stupidity. VERY VERY GOOD. Matsu is most pleased.



    Second,



    I think you can, the only question is precision -- those NES/sega pixels were pretty big (less than 320x240 on a TV)



    But,



    there are some portable digital white board technologies that seem to operate by this principle. You attach a bar over a whiteboard (with suction???) and use special marker sleeves to write on the board using any set of standard white-board markers. You get instant translation (in 4-8 different colors) to a connected PC.



    But again, precision...



    A white board is huge. That might bode well for this idea, though. I'll tell ya why. A few more closely spaced sensors could probably do a fairly acurate job on a tiny iMac LCD. Maybe 4 little unobtrusively styled corner clips for that nice big iMac bezel ???. They talk to each other and the pen like a mini GPS.



    With the iMac screen, you move it close for a little touch-up here and there, but when you're not using it as a touch screen there is no layer (or, as in early cases, faint grid) to obscure the LCD's pristine picture quality.
  • Reply 5 of 15
    noahjnoahj Posts: 4,503member
    Heh, reminds me of reading how people were using the Nintendo Power Glove as input devices for their old Macs.



    <a href="http://www.ibiblio.org/emusic-l/back-issues/vol036/issue04.txt"; target="_blank">http://www.ibiblio.org/emusic-l/back-issues/vol036/issue04.txt</a>;



    <a href="http://maccentral.macworld.com/news/0101/03.glove.shtml"; target="_blank">http://maccentral.macworld.com/news/0101/03.glove.shtml</a>;



    <a href="http://www.essentialreality.com"; target="_blank">http://www.essentialreality.com</a>;



    A few links that go from old to new on that idea. There are many more...
  • Reply 6 of 15
    matsumatsu Posts: 6,558member
    I've just had a very disturbing vision of NoahJ, powerglove in hand, composing Christian Rock music for the next Insipirational Music TV mini-mercial sell-off.



    Matsu shakes head, rummages through CD collection looking for something bad, finds... Styx? Not exactly the 'bad' idiom I was looking for. Suddenly, I feel the need for beer?
  • Reply 7 of 15
    whisperwhisper Posts: 735member
    [quote]Originally posted by Matsu:

    <strong>I've just had a very disturbing vision of NoahJ, powerglove in hand, composing Christian Rock music for the next Insipirational Music TV mini-mercial sell-off.



    Matsu shakes head, rummages through CD collection looking for something bad, finds... Styx? Not exactly the 'bad' idiom I was looking for. Suddenly, I feel the need for beer?</strong><hr></blockquote>



    Alas, I haven't seen any Insipirational Music TV mini-mercial sell-offs using rock music, Christian or otherwise. I don't it goes with their targeted market segment.



  • Reply 8 of 15
    noahjnoahj Posts: 4,503member
    Well, i am glad that you see me as a Christian off the bat. However, any music i composed would not be all that wonderful as i have no formal music theory training.



    If you are looking for soemthing really bad you could listen to AC/DC: Highway to hell. That should be suffciently bad for you. And since i am over here, I don't have to hear it. I will listen to my Steven Curtis Chapman, DC Talk, Petra and such and be blissfully ignorant of your music choices.
  • Reply 9 of 15
    spytapspytap Posts: 50member
    [quote]Originally posted by NoahJ:

    <strong>Well, i am glad that you see me as a Christian off the bat. However, any music i composed would not be all that wonderful as i have no formal music theory training.



    If you are looking for soemthing really bad you could listen to AC/DC: Highway to hell. That should be suffciently bad for you. And since i am over here, I don't have to hear it. I will listen to my Steven Curtis Chapman, DC Talk, Petra and such and be blissfully ignorant of your music choices. </strong><hr></blockquote>



    Screw that, get some Maralyn Manson "Antichrist Superstar" or similar. I don't think AC/DC ever really qualifies as Bad anymore. I would have added Nine Inch Nails to the list, but contrary to prevailing belief Trent Reznor is nowhere near satanic. How he got this rep is beyond me though.
  • Reply 10 of 15
    majukimajuki Posts: 114member
    It it's worth anything, my CS professor has a 15" LCD that he brings to class every day with a touchscreen. He uses a stylus and does notes with a projector.



    I don't see how using IR devices would help at much of a distance, other than to circle things, etc.
  • Reply 11 of 15
    matsumatsu Posts: 6,558member
    Ah, Americans might not get the Canadian beer commercial references, something of a minor pastime in Canada.



    No, at a distance I don't see it much either. The whole point is to interact with the surface of the screen directly. IR or (gasp) bluetooth could be used to add touch creen capabilities to regular LCD's without much added cost. The sensors could plug in (and draw power) over USB while talking to the pen via integrated bluetooth? who knows?



    The idea actually seems promising to me.
  • Reply 12 of 15
    splinemodelsplinemodel Posts: 7,311member
    [quote]Originally posted by Spytap:

    <strong>



    Screw that, get some Maralyn Manson "Antichrist Superstar" or similar. I don't think AC/DC ever really qualifies as Bad anymore. I would have added Nine Inch Nails to the list, but contrary to prevailing belief Trent Reznor is nowhere near satanic. How he got this rep is beyond me though.</strong><hr></blockquote>



    Highway to Hell's lyrics deal with the nature of an AC/DC tour more than anything mystic. Pssh. Manson is crap. Just a silly looking fool prancing around saying "I'm evil." If you want ballsy, outlandish satanic lyrics, Mercyful Fate is your band.



    Makes me cringe every time I listen to it. The problem is that aside from the disturbing lyrics, the music is pretty damn good. Something Manson can't say.



    How the gun works:

    When you shoot it the TV flickers. What happens is that the target areas are white dots on the black background. The gun is just a capture device. If the white dot is in the center of the captured image. It's a hit. Multiple targets are dealt with through the use of placement dots. So the the target dot is in a certain relation to the placement dots, the hit is a hit on that certain target.



    Not complicated at all. Most of the work is done in software.



    [ 04-20-2002: Message edited by: Splinemodel ]</p>
  • Reply 13 of 15
    [quote]Originally posted by NoahJ:

    <strong>

    If you are looking for soemthing really bad you could listen to AC/DC: Highway to hell. That should be suffciently bad for you. And since i am over here, I don't have to hear it. I will listen to my Steven Curtis Chapman, DC Talk, Petra and such and be blissfully ignorant of your music choices. </strong><hr></blockquote>



    Two words: Ozzie Osbourne
  • Reply 14 of 15
    [quote]Originally posted by FERRO:

    <strong>"

    Well after my recent bad purchase/experience of a tablet/pen input device,

    </strong><hr></blockquote>



    Could you expound on your experience??
  • Reply 15 of 15
    ferroferro Posts: 453member
    Yeah... <a href="http://forums.appleinsider.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=2&t=000774"; target="_blank">Current Hardware Thread...</a>



    The defualt settings were all goofy...



    these guys helped me find the folder I didnt yet know existed that had a settings app in it...



    ------------------------------------



    © FERRO 2001-2002



    [ 04-20-2002: Message edited by: FERRO ]</p>
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