Next-generation gaming suits to use rubber pipes

ERJ staff report (DS)

Minneapolis, Minnesota -- A US company has filed a patent on a full-body suit designed to allow people to interact with a gaming computer using full-body gestures.

The suit uses flexible pipes containing a fluid. The suit is constructed with pipes running around joints such as elbows and knees. When the wearer flexes these joints, the pressure in the tube changes. These changes in pressure can be measured and used as the input to a gaming system, allowing the suit to translate kicks, punches, bends and steps into computer graphics.

The inventors, Medibotics say US patent 7,980,141 for Motion Recognition Clothingâ„¢ (MRC) could be used for a variety of applications including not only computer gaming, but also virtual reality in general, sports training, medical therapy, virtual exercise, weight management, and telerobotics.

Medibotics said it has tested different tube diameters, wall thicknesses, durometers, and materials (eg. latex, silicone, EPDM, polyurethane) and found that non-linear functions of changes in tube pressures are highly correlated with changes in the angles of the human joints that the tubes span.

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Home page of MRC from Medibotics

Press release from Medibotics