New Audio Video Gets Everyone Off Couch (NAPSA)—Video gameplayers are taking a swing at a new concept of home entertainment...literally taking a swing. As opposed to traditional video systems where people tendto sit around and use only their thumbs to control the action, a first-of-its- kind, audio video interactive system has been created that invites everyone to get off the couch to participate with the interactive technology. The products, all part of the XaviX line, include XaviXPORT, XaviX Baseball, XaviX Bowling and XaviX Tennis. They worklike this: When a player swings the XaviX Baseball bat, infrared tech- nology in the XaviXPORT “sees” the movement, relays it to a XaviX multiprocessor chip that calculates the speed, location and direction of the swing, andlets the ball fly (unless it’s a strike). The same technology and action apply to XaviX Tennis, while XaviX Bowling uses an image sensor camera, allowing the participant to swing a tennis racket and roll a bowling ball with the feel of the real sport. To get the ball rolling, reality television stars Katrina Campins and Ereka Vetrini from “The Apprentice” and Rob Mariano and Amber Brkich from “Survivor” recently took part in the launch of the new product line that puts players right into the action and allows the players’ movements to be translated right onto the television screen. “The XaviX technology gets SEEING INFRARED—Infrared technology lets players swing a tennis racket, throw a baseball and roll a bowling ball with the feel of the real sport. people of all ages off their couches and into the game,” said Mr. Katsuya Nakagawa, CEO and president of SSD Company Limited, which was founded by a group of engineers who helped create the first Nintendo Entertainment System. “Our goal was to invent something that would take electronic entertainment to a new level of interactivity that is fun, healthy andsocial.” The high-speed XaviX multiprocessor chip is the heart of the system, but unlike most audio video interaction systems, the XaviX chip is located in the system cartridge instead of the XaviXPORT. This change benefits the consumer since the XaviXPORT console will not require upgrading as new applications are developed; each new product in the lineup will contain the latest technology right in the cartridge. XaviXPORT and XaviX Games are available at Best Buy, Radio Shack, Toys “R” Us and other retailers.
