Microsoft is being sued by Impulse Technology, a company that claims the Kinect violates seven of its patents for technology that tracks a user’s movement and allows them to play video games without a controller.
Impulse allegedly informed Microsoft before issuing the lawsuit, stating their patents covered a:
…wide variety of games where the movement of a player is tracked in three dimensions … and certain exercise games where the motion of the player is tracked to effect movement of a virtual avatar, and the exertion of the user is monitored, including where the tracking of the player is done by use of a camera.
But Microsoft isn’t the only target of this lawsuit — eight video game makers, including EA, Sega, and Konami, stand accused of making games designed for the Kinect system that violate Impulse’s patents.
Maybe Microsoft can use an army of motion-controlled helicopters to get them out of this.