OmniMotion Technology Ltd., an independent Irish Casual and Social Games company, have unveiled a revolutionary new Motion Control interface that allows for accurate, 3D, browser-based gaming on almost any PC or MAC - and all you need to play is a standard Webcam!

At a time when so many eagerly await the much publicized, end-of-year arrival of Microsoft’s ’Project Natal’ for the X-Box console, OmniMotion invites everybody to experience next-generation, controller-free gaming today, with the launch of their beta ’ThisIsMotionControl.com’ website. The featured free games allow for accurate, 3D, controller-free play, with the on-screen action dictated entirely by the movement of a player’s head, hands or body... and it’s online!

The primary game, ZenBall, is a multi-level ’physical puzzle’ developed with Dr. Edward De Bono, father of lateral thinking and creator of the ’Six Hats’ system. Take 3 steps back from your screen and control the action using simple, measured, Tai-Chi-type movements. It’s great fun, addictive and competitive, and might even help people to get in shape!

For quick access, PC/Windows Users* can download ZenBall now on:

http://www.thisismotioncontrol.com/media/downloads/zenballs-windows.zip

while MAC/OSX Intel Users** can download the game on:

http://www.thisismotioncontrol.com/media/downloads/zenballs-osx-intel.zip

Alternatively, take a few minutes to get your computer ’motion ready’ at: www.thisismotioncontrol.com and follow the simple instructions (see below for technical specifications). In addition to ZenBall, you can then play other free, single-level beta samples from forthcoming releases, including a Swimming simulation from GamesGym - the online sports and fitness service, Hoosch - a motion control Quiz with user-generated content that is played with simple head tilts, and SumoBalls - a fun 2-player combat game.

After several years of development, OmniMotion will feature this proprietary ’gesture recognition’ technology within several title releases over the coming year, many created with high-profile partners from the fields of Entertainment and Sports.

What they seem to be missing is the fact that Project Natal will have 3D camera capabilities meaning it will be able to judge forward and backward motion and not just arm waving. This is more akin to the PS3 Eye-based games that have been available for quite some time. Those never took off very well, mostly due to the poor camera I think. A couple were fun but far too difficult as you had to have a high contrast between you and the environment and a lot of light. I can see these games having some similar issues. But I’ll go take a look anyway.