Razer, Sixense and Valve Bringing Motion Controls and Gesture Recognition Hardware to PC Games

Razer, Valve, and Sixense, along with a selection of PC OEM partners, are aiming to produce, "...ultra-precise one-to-one motion sensing controllers that use electromagnetic fields to track precise movements along all six axes." Each controller will reportedly track its orientation within a single degree, and detect positioning within one millimeter. Thankfully, the device will be compatible with both current and future generation PC games.

The new technology is being demonstrated at CES this week using Valve's Left 4 Dead 2 and a controller prototype, with the software development kit currently available on Steam, Valve's PC digital distribution service. Left 4 Dead 2 team lead Chet Faliszek threw a gauntlet at the feet of other motion-control efforts, stating that he believes, "...this release represents motion-enabled gaming that's more integrated and visceral than any platform has so far achieved."

Avi Arad, chairman and co-founder of Sixense commented that the unnamed device, "...will not only enhance the entire gaming experience, but will truly revolutionize how games are played on the PC." On an interesting side-note, Arad also owns the movie rights to Mass Effect and is currently assigned as a producer on the Uncharted and Lost Planet films, in addition to having worked as a producer on several Marvel comic book movies.

Valve is no stranger to interesting controller technology, as evidenced by their fairly recent support of the Novint Falcon Controller. Considering the players involved in their latest partnership (and Faliszek's fighting words), this new doodad might be one to keep an eye on leading up to its release sometime in 2010.