Kyle Machulis

While virtual worlds have been around for decades in one form or another, the idea of hardware that interacts with them still exists in either the realm of sci-fi, or the failure bin of your local electronics store (The P5 glove, for instance). This talk will outline why Human Interface Devices outside of the mouse and keyboard are important to virtual worlds, and what consumer level products (and even DIY projects) are currently on the market or will be coming available soon that can be integrated into these platforms. 

Speaker Bio:
 
Kyle Machulis is a hardware/software engineer, focusing on immersive environment and alternative input research. Going by his favorite mantra, "As free as possible", he works to create immersion in video games and virtual worlds through the absolute cheapest, easiest means available. Not only does he not have a research budget, but he also enjoys proving the fact that simple user interface additions to a very complex computer-generated world can create new kinds of emergent play and interaction.