3D motion sensors have an extremely wide range of applications, because they can accurately indicate the oriental position of items they are attached to.


Using the 3D motion sensor in head-mounted displays (HMDs) used for virtual reality and remote-controlled robots enables the corresponding scene to be displayed whenever one's head is turned.


Another possible application is in 3D PC and game console video games. Using one of these sensors for a shooting game will allow the gun on the screen to be pointed in the direction the controller is aimed, making this type of game much easier to operate.

One new type of game features characters which reproduce a human's movements very realistically. Called motion capture system, this system captures the movements of the human player and transfers them into the movements of the game character. Traditionally, this has required a special studio equipped with a huge system costing hundreds of thousands of dollars. But motion capture can be conducted using twelve 3D motion sensors, allowing for an extremely inexpensive system that is within the reach of smaller businesses and hobby users.


As these sensors become more compact, it will be possible to embed them in cell phones and PDAs, improving the accuracy of positioning services.

Positioning services indicate the location of a terminal's owner by using data from global positioning system (GPS) and mobile telephone base stations. There are a multitude of applications for this type of service. For instance, it can be used to locate people suffering from dementia if they become lost, display a map to nearby restaurants, or find out the current location of sales and service staff. But since GPS relies on radio waves from satellites, it cannot be used indoors and in areas with high buildings where these waves can't be received. And since the base stations of mobile phones cover wide areas, they can only serve as a very general indicator of position. Combining this data with 3D motion sensors, however, should allow for much more accurate services, capable of pinpointing one's location down to the exact room of the building where one is located.

The compact size, high precision, and excellent cost performance of the NEC TOKIN 3D motion sensor will give it use in a wide range of IT devices in the 21st century.