| Until a few years ago, only expensive workstations could
display 3D computer graphics in real time. Today, however, it is taken
for granted that a home PC or game console will be able to use 3D graphics.
The majority of video games today make use of 3D computer graphics, and
many creative CG designers are now using PCs to create 3D computer graphic
animation.
But the increasing use of the PC in this arena has brought a new problem to light: the interface used to manipulate the 3D graphics. A good example of this is the PC game called Quake III. This is a world-famous combat game played out in a three-dimensional space. The controls used for this game are anything but intuitive: the arrow keys are used to walk forward, backward, right and left, while the mouse is used to aim the gun. This is an extremely confusing setup, but existing computer interfaces have not been capable of anything more sophisticated.
Up until now, conventional input devices - including the mouse, keyboard and game pad - were only designed with a two-dimensional screen in mind. Truly navigating a three-dimensional space will require a new type of input device, one more suited to this new format. Two examples are the 3D mouse and the tracker of the head-mounted display (HMD). These new types of interface require compact, high-performance sensors to detect motion in three dimensions, including an object's position, orientation, and movement.
Furthermore, this type of sensor will be able to dramatically improve the accuracy of mobile phone and PDA positioning services, a field with huge growth potential. The applications for 3D motion data will no doubt expand greatly in the IT field of the 21st century.
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