Intel patents proximity sensors on gaming consoles for player’s safety

Intel was recently granted a patent where proximity sensors will be built into gaming consoles.

The patent states that the gaming console with proximity sensors will trigger an alert or even pause a game if a player is caught too close to an object in his/her surroundings which could lead to any injury. Microsoft plans to do this by using the console to take images of the player’s full body movement and surrounding objects which will determine whether or not a user is too close to the surrounding objects.

The patent was filed back in March 2011, but it was granted earlier this month.

The patent also states the following:
– a first set of sensors [that] continuously capture the first images of the body movement of the player
– a first set of sensors [includes] a camera to capture the first images of the body movement of the player
– a first set of sensors [that includes] a depth sensor to capture depth value of the first images of the body movement of the player
– a second set of sensors [that captures] the second images of the objects surrounding the player at regular intervals of time
– a first processor to determine proximity values based on a plurality of first position values and a plurality of second position values
– a first processor [to] generate an alert signal and pause signal if the proximity values are within the threshold values
– a second processor coupled to the first processor, wherein the second processor is to pause the game in response to receiving the pause signal

It certainly shows that Intel is very interested in stepping into the Video Gaming console business and judging by this patent, they’ve already been working on this for some time. This would be useful in many console types such as the Wii and maybe this is what Intel needs to do to tempt console makers into doing business with them in the near future.

Source: Toms’ Hardware