Playing with All Senses: Human-Computer Interface Devices for Games

For a long time, computer games were limited to input and output devices such as mouse, joystick, typewriter keyboard, and TV screen. This has changed dramatically with the advent of inexpensive and versatile sensors, actuators, and visual and acoustic Output devices. Modem games employ a wide variety of interface technology, which is bound to broaden even further. This creates a new task for game designers. They have to choose the right option, possibly combining several technologies to let one technology compensate for the deficiencies of the other or to achieve more immersion through new modes of interaction. To facilitate this endeavor, this chapter gives an overview on current and upcoming human-computer interface technologies, describes their inner workings, highlights applications in commercial games and game research, and points out promising new directions.