Some games, like Monopoly, just feel right when the dice are being rolled. However, the dice still provides a feeling of turn ownership and while the random numbers generated by dice might be worse than a good computer algorithm, there is inherent faith that the dice are true. The humble dice have been long since replaced by electronic replacements in many computer games. It is no wonder that this basic joy has been released with the device as Lenovo Air Hockey. Where a mouse encourages the fingers to make fine movements, the striker is held by the hand and encourages harder and faster gestures. Who hasn’t enjoyed the tactile feel of an air hockey striker in the hand? While it acts similar to a mouse pointing device, the feel is distinctly different. This allows the inputs from the joystick to be context-sensitive to the location on the screen. The joystick control may also be placed on the screen in different locations.
However, there is more to this technology than just having a joystick. This has been demonstrated on many games titles, such as Max and the Magic Marker, that implement a Virtual D-Pad an on-screen touch version of a joystick.
While touch has opened a large number of gesture based inputs, it still makes sense for some applications to use a joystick for input. There are a number of games and control systems that work more naturally with a joystick interface. The drive to social networking is undeniable and this provides a new way to be social with a computer. It is even large enough for four people to sit around it at a small table. With the large screen size offered by this device, it is easy for two people across a table to interact with the device at the same time. That is, they could be shared, but only by passing the device around. While tablets have been in the mainstream for around five years, they have been designed as personal devices. The complete benefits of these new Human Interface Devices (HIDs) will not be completely realized until applications are written to take advantage of them. This device has a number of features that make it a unique entry:Įach of these items opens up a new mechanism for interacting with computers in a more human way. Lenovo has recently introduced a revolutionary device in the All-In-One space, the Lenovo Horizon 27" All-In-One. But this is not the only innovation that has occurred, screen sizes have increased, touch has become ubiquitous and new devices are being released. The most notable is probably the Haswell architecture which will promise battery life for PCs that were previously only seen with tablets. The latest round of computer hardware in 2013 has opened up a completely new world for applications. Note the placement of the magnetic field which is determined by the placement of the Striker. Using a combination of touch and on-screen joysticks, strikers and dice, the players must get all the colored balls into their final destinations.Īn example of this on the project on the Lenovo Horizon 27” All-in-One. Each level will have different fixed and variable obstacles with marbles and steel balls that are launched onto the table. In it, players will control a set of blocks, force fields and automated contraptions to keep marbles from rolling off of the table. Don’t Lose Your Marbles is a physics puzzle game for one or two players.