Evolution of Gaming Wearable Gears

We have come a long way. In the last few years, the gaming industry has change dramatically.

All thanks to the advancement in technology, today the games have incredible graphics, amazing gaming mechanics, mind blowing sound effects and in-game bonus rounds to finish the missions. One of the major shift has been seen in gaming is by introducing VR and AR technology. It has allowed us to connect and involve in the game's narration. With the continuous development of VR AR technology, the wearable devices looks to set to become the must have a piece of tech.

Let’s look at the evolution of wearable devices and tighten your seat belts because an avalanche of best and most innovative wearing is coming your way.

1. Casio GD8 (1984)

Yes 1984, in the mid of 80s Japanese technology company, “Casio” was king of its game. It has introduced digital watches, and they were selling it like chocolates and as a result it helps them to innovate more and integrate it with the latest technology of that time. The watch could do calculations, remote controlling and FM transmissions. Company also added a gaming system in the watches. The watch has a racing game in its small display. It was an attempt to recreate the thrill of formula one racing on a screen an inch square tied on their wrist. That’s how the first gaming wearable device was introduced to the world.

2. Nintendo power gloves (1989)

The concept behind the development of Nintendo power gloves was that video games could use the hand gestures to move and drag their on-screen characters. The power gloves were years ahead of its time. This introduced the world with gesture based technology. But because of lack of decent games and due to hardware limitations of that time, the power gloves get flopped. However, this creates a new hope for future gaming.

3. Sega Lock On (1992)

The Sega Lock On is a laser tag game which is developed by Sega company and they released it in 1992 and it basically a VR shooter. It became popular in hongkong and South Korea, unofficially the device has 3 versions called as Mark 1, Mark 2 and voice command Lock On. The game has two teams A and B, one player has a gun and other has headset. The laser tag system became popular because it allowed the kids to do shooting without creating any kind of mess that paintball or bullets creates. It’s wearable headset reflects the vision of future gaming.

**Some Fact (the Sega created a VR in 1993 but never released it because company thinks that it’s “too realistic” and people will hurt themselves while playing)

4. Virtual boy (1995)

It is a 32-bit table top portable video game developed by the same company which also developed power gloves “Nintendo”. It was first console which was capable of showing stereoscopic 3D graphics. The player used to wear in on their head, and it worked like a head-mounted display. The player places it on their head against the eyepiece to see a red monochromatic display. To create a sense of the 3D world, the device uses parallel techniques. But again the sales failed to meet the target and ultimately Nintendo stops the development of virtual boy. The company has released 22 games build for virtual boy. The company again tried to introduce proper 3D gaming to the world, but again, the world was not ready to accept it at that time.

5. TrackIR (2001)

It is the only device which is still available to buy. It comes in between conventional 3D gaming and full-blown virtual reality. It is very simple to connect it with your computer by just plugging in USB. It uses a small infrared emitter which is attached to your headphones to read your head movement, and these movements are then translated to your in-game environment. Let say, you move your head in left direction, and then your game perspective will move in left direction. The product became a great success became popular because of its simulation games like rail and flight.

As the time passed by, the R&D progressed and all those things which we think were Sci-Fiction started to come in reality. In last 20 years the gaming industry has evolved marvelously. Now let’s see the latest development in this field.

Today let’s explore the latest innovations in wearable technology that are taking the world and revolutionizing the industry

a. Neural Impulse Actuator (2008)

A computer which can read your thoughts was a long dream of science fiction. Number of gaming companies has tried to make it real. In 1984 Atari tried to make it by introducing MindLink, but the test players started to get headaches and because of this issue it was never produced. The neural impulse actuator basically detects your brain impulse with the help of three sensors. Those impulses were translated them into virtual trigger pulls and in-game ups. It became popular and worked well enough.

b. Holo Suits

Have you seen the movie “Ready Player One” the movie has shown the future of gaming. However, the movie has set unrealistic expectations from VR. But just before the concept of ready player one haptic suits seems to be 2030s technology but the HoloSuit made this fiction to seems real. The haptic suit uses the 360 degree motion tracking sensors and different haptic points to capture the full body motion and makes you feel the virtual world.

As this suit captures every body part movement, you will never going to feel that you are in virtual world. This suit has completely changed the VR as it provides excellent stability in gaming and allows the user to make a real world humanoid mirroring robot avatar.

c. Bcon

The Bcon is a wearable gaming device which is developed by a German startup. The Bcon was designed for those gamers who are looking to improve their in-game performance. You can mount Bcon anywhere on your body where you feel comfortable. At first you have to map the triggers any in-game movement for your character. Now choose your sitting position and activate the Bcon. Now you just have me make a gesture that you have mapped for that action. You can now play any game with a new competitive edge feature. This device is beneficial for shooting games as it allows you to use your other body parts also to involve in gaming action. For example, you are playing a shooting game and you mounted the Bcon on your foot and mapped a gesture of lifting your foot for aiming. So during the game whenever you life your foot and make the gesture as mapped on Bcon, the character will perform that action. So, in this way Bcon can be used in many ways in gaming.

The list is endless; there are many more devices which can be used. The gaming industry is revolutionizing our future and those things which we see only in sci-fiction movies are becoming real. This is the future.