Between HTML5’s GamepadAPI and Kinect for Windows SDK the world of physical computing is at our fingertips.

February 2012 will see the commercial release of the Kinect for Windows SDK. Inspired by the general success of Kinect hardware and the innovation its popularity has sparked amongst hackers, Microsoft have stepped up to officially support the endeavours of enthusiasts looking to use the technology for applications beyond the realm of gaming. These enthusiasts embody the growing ‘physical computing movement’ of tinkerers and experimentalists who are pushing for an approach to technology that is wholly more creative, intuitive and ’natural’ compared to the archaic - though functional - mouse and keyboard interface combination we are all accustomed to.

Also announced recently was the HTML5 GamepadAPI which allows users to connect various game controllers to a computer which can then be easily accessed by browser applications. This has an interesting parallel with Microsoft’s Kinect SDK as it means that the majority of current generation videogame controllers can now be re-appropriated for purposes well beyond their initial scope of the games and consoles they were conceived for. It is a trend that gathered momentum in 2008 when Johnny Lee used the Nintendo Wii Remote to build cheap yet sophisticated educational tools from a domestic toy. Namely a whiteboard, touch screen and head-mounted 3D viewer ( equipment that would have otherwise cost thousands ) made available with a £30 device and opensource software.

This is typical of videogame controllers. Advanced hardware available at low cost thanks to mass production yet their sophistication is often overlooked or taken for granted. Gaming input devices have benefited from seven decades of history, competition and fairly unrestricted creativity. Notably, Nintendo have not been shy when it comes to taking risks in designing experimental controllers for new consoles, often to the point that the controller is the lead story over the main gaming hardware it is connected to. This is illustrated beautifully by the below infographic from Pop Chart Lab that details the evolution of 11 types of controllers over 70 years.

‘The Evolution of Video Game Controllers’ - Pop Chart Lab

With such controllers we immediately have access to a range of sensors, buttons and feedback devices that we would otherwise have to spend many hours constructing form scratch or rigging together with arduino and phidget kits. Between those currently available we can easily use a variety of analogue joysticks and analogue buttons that react to relative displacement from a given rest point. We can use a plethora of buttons, gyroscopes and accelerometers all ergonomically designed and comfortably familiar to an expanding demographic of gamers. We have motion tracking, human body detection, facial recognition, voice control, gesture recognition... The list goes on. At the very least this standards based approach to connectivity can provided a unified interactive web and gaming experience much like the service Google TV is speculated to provide in the near future. Regardless there are some great opportunities to use new - and not so new - overlooked peripherals for ‘serious’ business.