I wonder who will be the first to patent "breathing"?
Microsoft files 'magic wand' trademark
Summary
Newly disclosed patent filing from software giant describes a new way to control everything from a game console to a thermostat.
Topics
While virtually every tech company is concerned with building the better mouse trap, Microsoft is apparently trying to build a better mouse.
Seattle based technology blog TechFlash this week picked up on a newly disclosed patent filing from Microsoft for a motion-sensing "Magic Wand" interface that would allow users to turn on lights, crank up the heat, and possibly even play games with a flick of the wrist.
The wand is technically described as "an architecture that can facilitate rich interaction with and/or management of environmental components included in an environment." It could incorporate a number of handy devices including an accelerometer, a gyroscope, a camera, a laser, a biometric sensor, a transmitter, or a receiver, and would have a handy adviser in text, audio, or video form to assist users in getting their gestures just right.
According to the filing, the advisor could be configurable from appearance to accent, and could be displayed in holographic form. On top of that, the wand could track motion by creating a basic 3D model of its environment, then using a pair of cameras to determine the wand's orientation within that existing model.
Also of note are the Magic Wand's inventors. Among the listed names is J Allard, Microsoft's "chief experience officer" and chief technology officer for the Entertainment and Devices Division. Allard may be best known among gamers for managing the technical development of the original Xbox and serving as the public face of the company's console efforts until shortly after the Xbox 360 launch. Since then, he has remained largely out of sight while working on the Zune multimedia handheld, which Microsoft has promised will eventually support robust gaming functionality.
This article was originally posted on GameSpot.
Talkback Most Recent of 22 Talkback(s)
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GuidingLight20th May 2009 -
So now...
The Russian Mafia can turn up your heat. Cool!
kozmcrae20th May 2009 -
RE: Microsoft files 'magic wand' trademark
You know the Intergalatic Union of Fairy Princesses will not be pleased to read this...and you don't want to get them pissed off!
IT_Guy_z20th May 2009 -
'Magic wand' trademark ...
... to be followed by 'Top Hat' and 'White Rabbit' presumably
Sounds like the 'Wii controller for Houdini' to me.
Sorry - couldn't resist.
johnfenjackson@...20th May 2009 -
Disney is
Disney is displeased with such patent, also Adobe Photoshop
magallanes20th May 2009 -
There is a difference....
between a patent and a trademark. If you want to go after someone go after the company that trademarked every word after putting an i in front.
Erroneous20th May 2009 -
GuidingLight20th May 2009
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Article is inconsistent.
The headline say trademark, but the article text says patent.
TheTruthisOutThere@...20th May 2009 -
Yeah, that was what caught my eye.
...'cause it would be just like M$ to patent the words, "magic wand" as an iconic representation starting a Macro or Wizard. If they haven't already.
But, even in the case of this patent, it seems to me more likely a means of skirting the Wii?s exclusivity on motion and gyroscopic responsive controllers by calling it a wand. I don?t think we?re going to be seeing holographic maids any time soon telling us how to use the TV remote.
Socratesfoot20th May 2009 -
iLawyer
Yeah, introducing iLawyer to protect your intellectual property!
Note: iLawyer is the property of Apple Inc. Any grievence against iLawyer can only be held in iCourt and heard by iJudge. iCourt and iTestimony are necessary for iLawyer to function and also trademarks of Apple Inc.Socratesfoot20th May 2009 -
RE: Microsoft files 'magic wand' trademark
Trademark, patent--it's still Microsoft trying to lay claim to an existing technology. As someone else said, it is just the Wii controller under another name.
Nintendo has enough money to fight MS and win, too.
AttackComputerWhiz20th May 2009 -
Wiiiiii!
Wow, MS, what an invention. If only someone had thought of that sooner...
spinella@...20th May 2009 -
Agreed...
Nintendo already has the patent...
Nice try Microsucks... Talk about a lame attempt to steal IP.... Aaaaaand another strike out against the Redmond Retards.
i8thecat20th May 2009 -
Master Joe Says...
This coming from a person who goes by the name i8thecat? First of all, what Microsoft is doing is NOT the same as the Wii Remote, nor are they trying to be. Secondly, the absurdity of your post is surpassed only by the long warn out "Microsucks" and Retards From Redmond. Get over it. If Microsoft wasn't the dominant operating system, office suite, e-mail solution, and didn't pull the rug out from Apple's dominance in the advertising market so fast it made their head iSpin, you wouldn't be on here ranting and raving, letting that garbage spew forth from your festerring piehole. Give it a rest. Insanity is doing the same thing over and over, expecting a different outcome. Stunted mental growth is SAYING the same thing over and over, expecting that anyone will care.
--Master Joe
MasterJoe20th May 2009 -
RE: Microsoft files 'magic wand' trademark
It could incorporate a number of handy devices including an accelerometer, a gyroscope, a camera, a laser, a biometric sensor, a transmitter, or a receiver, and would have a handy adviser in text, audio, or video form to assist users in getting their gestures just right.
Besides the fact it's a Wii controller, don't you have to have an actual working model, or can we now get patents for anything we can dream up?
none none20th May 2009
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