Digging through our cameras for more footage from Computex 2012, we found this gem: a video demonstration of Freescale’s 12-axis Xtrinsic sensor platform. This little green circuit board is absolutely covered with sensors, such that it can track a tremendous array of data in real time. In all, it’s got a gyroscope, accelerometer, magnetometer, altimeter, inclinometer, thermometer, and an ambient light sensor too. The real draw here, though, is the way the hardware and software tie all the positional and directional results together — sensor fusion — for Windows 8 devices. As you can see in the video below, when you move the board around, the Freescale chips generate a 3D object that does the same.
Freescale’s tiny 12-axis board demonstrates Windows 8 sensor fusion (hands-on video)
Here’s a video demonstration of Freescale’s 12-axis Xtrinsic sensor platform for Windows 8.
Here’s a video demonstration of Freescale’s 12-axis Xtrinsic sensor platform for Windows 8.
is a senior editor and founding member of The Verge who covers gadgets, games, and toys. He spent 15 years editing the likes of CNET, Gizmodo, and Engadget.
In other words, with a platform like this, a Windows 8 tablet computer can have a holistic understanding of the forces applied to its frame. Freescale isn’t the only company building sensor platforms, of course, and Windows 8 is supposed to unify sensors like this as a general rule, but Freescale also claims its solution will offload work from a device’s primary processor to even out the load. According to the company, this particular board is just a reference platform for now.
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