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Sega Brings Kinect-Like Motion Detection to iPad With ‘Dance Off’ Game

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Sega is looking to debut its first motion controlled game for Apple’s iPad tablet that would deliver a similar gaming interaction using motion as Microsoft’s Kinect camera accessory. By using the iPad’s camera along with a software development package from Extreme Reality, the ‘Dance Off’ title will allow users to interact with the game using motions and gestures from their bodies rather than having to physically touch the tablet’s display to control game play.

‘Dance Off’ is slated to launch this fall in Apple’s iTunes App Store. The app makes use of the iPad’s front-facing FaceTime camera to detect movement, and with Extreme Reality’s SDK the movement is analyzed and transformed into 3D motion in real-time inside the game. Extreme Reality boasts that its technology can sense movement in almost any level of light and could even work in the dimmest of environments.

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And thanks to the software technology, the iPad doesn’t need a complicated external accessory to detect motion like the separate Kinect motion tracking camera accessory for Microsoft’s Xbox gaming console. Extreme Reality relies on the existing hardware that’s present on the tablet itself.

When plugged into an HDTV via an HDMI cable and accessory dongle, or shared through Apple’s AirPlay wirelessly to a larger display, the iPad could essentially be an alternative to an Xbox game console and the Kinect accessory.

This isn’t the first time we’ve heard of a Kinect-like experience on an iPad. In the past, a prototype BitGym game was demoed last year.

Still yet, other companies are looking at ways to make the iPad more Kinect-like in nature. Though software is one way to do this, another solution would require embedding a hardware camera that could perform this motion sensing.

At this time, there isn’t much more information divulged about the game from Sega. From the sound of things, it might sound like we may be getting a mobile version of a game that offers a similar experience to Dance Dance Revolution (DDR) for the iPad.

We still don’t have an exact launch date or pricing for the game. The company says that it will be coming this fall.

In the mean time, however, you can get a better sense of Extreme Reality through the embedded video below:

 

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