Augmented reality is always a hot topic of conversation here at Cogapp towers. If it's not Joe being envious of Boffswana's green monster then it's Tristan pointing his eyes to the skies for a bit of virtual stargazing. The topic garnered my own particular interest recently thanks to the demonstrations at this years E3 - the big expo in the world of video-gaming - of the latest computer game control systems from Sony and Microsoft. Having spent many a wasted evening in front of my (much mourned) Mega Drive when I should have been out practicing my hockey or socialising with my friends (quite why I should have been doing this I don't know - none of my friends were blue-supersonic hedgehogs) as a boy, I tend to keep one ear to the ground for the latest developments in the video-game sphere. It seems impossible to avoid the success of the Nintendo Wii, both commercially and in opening up video-gaming to new demographics. This success has prompted Nintendo's rival console manufacturers to look into expanding into this new broadened market with innovative interfaces of their own. Sony's as-of-yet unnamed effort involves combining the existing Playstation Eye with what can only be described as a wand to allow the player to interact with the game in new and even more immersive ways. The idea clearly borrows heavily from the concept introduced by the Wii, but the combination of handheld device and camera will allow the interaction to be even more detailed than that of the Wii remote - even with the new Wii MotionPlus ... or at least Sony hopes.

Sony are looking to bring the worlds of augented reality and computer gaming closer than they've ever been before. It's not a new concept (with such products as the Eyetoy having attempted the idea previously), but Sony look to be well on the way to implementing an even more interactive gaming experience than has been possible in the past (even with a very obvious lightsabre 'homage' included in the tech demo). However, they're evidently clear to stress that they aren't looking to do away with buttons just yet - seeing them as an integral part of the gaming experience. Microsoft, for their part, must be hoping that Sony's view on buttons isn't wholly accurate. They've gone for a similar approach, but from a different angle. Rather than trying to incorporate movement into games, they've developed technology to control games solely through body movement - doing away with peripherals entirely. Dubbed Project Natal, the system simply uses a camera device to track body movement and incorporate it into the game.

This technology extends beyond recognising pre-defined motions and using these as triggers for actions, as is often the case with the Wii (this idea, whilst innovative, often essentially resorts to replacing the action of pressing a button with that of swinging your arm). It extends into being able to have complete control of the action of your avatar on screen. By mapping the player's body to the sprite, unique actions can be replicated move-for-move within the game. Have a look at the tech demo displayed at E3 to see Microsoft's dream vision of the project (but this is just a vision - notice the unavoidable disclaimer in the bottom left  of the video). If the scope of the project can match the team's vision, then it will be a hugely impressive achievement indeed. As demonstrated, the possibilities surmount the world of video-gaming and extend into social media, augmented reality and beyond (though my ever present inner-pessimist won't allow me to let go of the idea that the girl trying on the virtual dress will remain merely a concept for at least the foreseeable future - prove me wrong Microsoft, prove me wrong). Of course, the opposite is also a possibility; having whetted people's appetites with the prospect of a truly unique gaming experience, if they produce a system which fails to deliver, the backlash could be irrevocable. While video-gaming incorporating augmented reality (the aforementioned Eyetoy and personal favourite ARhrrrr) and motion control (from raging success of the Wii to the frankly after-thought-esque SIXAXIS) has been done before, the current next generation of control schemes provide a tantalising prospect. If the Wii opened up games to a new audience, imagine what the possibility of finally being able to actually run a race against Sonic the Hedgehog would do? Get training folks!