The Nintendo Wii delivered motion controls to the mass market. Sony's Move controller and Microsoft's Natal are aiming to capitalize on getting gamers to move more than their thumbs. But what about the next leap forward? A group of inventors at the University of Pennsylvania may have found the answer with their Tactile Gaming Vest.Created by grad student Saurabh Palan and some fellow engineers, the TGV allows players of shooters like "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2" to feel the sensation of being shot whenever they are blasted in-game. As if we needed more incentive to camp.It sounded so intense that we reached out to Saurabh to get some more info on the project, inquire about other possible applications, and find out if we could pre-order one."I am not a hardcore gamer," Palan said. "I am a roboticist. When I started with [the TGV], I pitched the idea for making a vest for a movie-watching experience inspired by Disney's 4-D motion pictures screened at various adventure parks. But it seems to be an easier task to have a gaming application to test the hardware."Palan's venture is based in haptics -- feedback technology that engages the user's sense of touch. In order to test the hardware in an actual game, Palan and company chose fan favorite PC shooter "Half Life 2." Bespectacled MIT graduate-turned-alien-killing-hero Gordon Freeman would be proud.
High-Tech Sex? Porn Flirts With the Cutting EdgeAdult Entertainment Expo Kicks Off as Consumer Electronics Show ContinuesJan. 8 2010The porn industry peddles a product as old as Adam and Eve, and it's always found the most cutting edge ways to do it.Women are being targeted to purchase porn and sex toys.It's no accident that each year as the Consumer Electronics Show winds down in Las Vegas, the Adult Entertainment Expo heats up. Bespectacled techies cross paths with corseted porn stars selling high-tech sex toys and tools of all shapes and sizes.Some say technology revolutions like the VHS format, video chatting and the digital delivery of content got a boost from the tech-savvy purveyors and fans of adult fantasy, but the fruits of the tech-adult marriage take a variety of forms.Every year, scattered between the many booths showcasing porn perennials -- XXX movies, traditional accessories and attire -- are a few vendors that take technology to a whole new, sometimes head-scratching, level. And there's no subject or function too taboo or outrageous. Here are a few examples:
