14 DAY TRIAL // Reactrix Systems is a software developer that might have just brought technology from the Minority Report to video games. The company showed off a gaming system made for LCD TVs, planning to make them available in the second half of this year around 150 Hilton hotels. The system mimics the Wii quite a lot in that it responds to motion.
Two games have been made available for the system so far. One is Boxing, the other Volleyball. As you can imagine in Boxing, players punch the air to hit their opponent, while Volleyball has them swinging their arms around.
"Our first application is going to be advertising and interactive signage," said Matt Bell, chief scientist at Reactrix and developer of the system. "Our first roll-out of these displays will be in the second half of this year in 150 Hilton hotels. They'll be a mixture of fun, interactive games and information about hotel services."
According to Networkworld.com the Reactrix technology is called WaveScape. It was demonstrated on Samsung's large-format 570DX display at CES 2008 in Vegas. "Above the display was a sensor that kept track of a person's hand and body movements so they could interact with an on-screen game. The sensor can cover five meters," the website reports.
So you'd expect to see this thing in your home in a year or so, right? Well, don't go that far. "Despite the technology's almost universal appeal," as NetworkWorld puts it, "Reactrix has no plans to launch a version for consumers." Not now, anyway...:
"We wish we did, because we want to get this to as many people as possible, but rest assured we will get there. At the very least, you should see one in a mall, a theater or a hotel near you in the next few months," Bell said. The company's initial systems and those for Hilton are destined for North America only.
That "will get there" doesn't say much, but scattering it around 150 Hiltons means that the project is quite ambitious. Reactrix only has to wait and see how much of a demand there is for this kind of systems in the line of electronics consumers and video game fanatics. If it does prove worthy of mass-production as a home entertainment system, we should see it up on the ramp in 2 to 3 years.