New Microsoft motion-tracking venture project ‘Digit’ is all about the wrist

Kinect, it fills our stomachs with bile. Here was potentially the greatest controller to ever hit consoles, but was and is sorely underutilised. Is it down to the cumbersome tech, a hefty price or lack of innovative software? Whatever’s cock-blocking motion-technology isn’t getting Microsoft down and today, news of a new motion-tracking technology, namely a wearable wrist sensor is making us whole once more.

A Microsoft research team have created a wrist-mounted array of sensors which accurately tracks hand and wrist movement in a three-dimensional plane. Groovy.

Microsoft promises that “it’ll get smaller over time”

It’s called project “digit” and the video below nicely explains it:

The device is one self-contained unit, so every interaction takes place on the wrist and from any position. The device does not even have to be within line-of-sight which is pretty damn impressive when directly compared to Kinect. Here’s what a Microsoft research fella has to say. “Ultimately, we would like to reduce Digits to the size of a watch that can be worn all the time. We want users to be able to interact spontaneously with their electronic devices using simple gestures and not even have to reach for their devices.” That was from a David Kim, if you’re interested in knowing.

There’s nil information on whether or not project digit will make it to mass production but rest assured, it’ll hopefully power the next generation of Kinect.