Microsoft Files Patent for "Magic Wand"

Is the Magic Wand the answer to the Nintendo Wii?

Ever since Nintendo came out with the Wii Remote control system, which took the mass market by storm allowing anyone to flail wildly in an effort to control a video game, both Sony and Microsoft have been rumored to be working on something to that effect.

Could it be a Microsoft Magic Wand? Maybe. A patent application from 2007 surfaced recently describes a device that sounds similar to the Wii Remote.

The architecture can exist in whole or in part in a housing that can resemble a wand or similar object. The architecture can utilize one or more sensor from a collection of sensors to determine an orientation or gesture in connection with the wand, and can further issue an instruction to update a state of an environmental component based upon the orientation.

Of course, a patent application is just one way of Microsoft to protect something it may choose to explore, but that doesn’t mean that it’ll every become anything. In fact, the evidence right now points to Microsoft utilizing some advanced motion tracking software in conjunction with video cameras for motion sensing rather than a “Magic Wand.”

Still, you can bet that Microsoft is working towards an answer to those who like waggle, and hopefully we’ll know at E3.