The Next Hot Innovation In PC Gaming?

I spent the better part of last week at the Game Developers Conference (GDC), checking out a number of new gaming-related innovations poised to hit the market in the next few weeks, months, and (maybe) years. I’m particularly interested in PC hardware, which was good because a number of the major players in the space, like Intel, NVIDIA, and AMD all unveiled new product or technologies that are coming down the pipe. Intel showed off a new Broadwell-based, socketed desktop CPU and a new NUC system, both with Iris graphics. NVIDIA unveiled its upcoming SHIELD console and uber-powerful GeForce GTX Titan X(review forthcoming), and AMD announced some new VR technology.

Another major player, that’s perhaps not quite as well known—Synaptics—was also at the conference showing off a couple of forward-looking technologies that have the potential to be quite pervasive with hardcore gamers, should they catch on. Synaptics SYNA +0.56% has a biometric fingerprint sensor dubbed Natural ID in the works, along with a capacitive sensor for keyboards that is user-programmable and can perform a variety of actions.

A Close-Up Look At The Synaptics Natural ID Fingerprint Sensor.

Though some of you may be unfamiliar with Synaptics, I’d bet that many of your own (or have owned) a product featuring their technology. Synaptics is a leader in the human computer interfaces, capacitive touch-screen and touch-pad spaces. Many popular smartphones feature capacitive touch technology from Synaptics, and the touch pads on a myriad of notebooks—including the awesome new HP Spectre X360—are from Synaptics.

The company’s recent moves into gaming are quite interesting. Its Natural ID fingerprint sensor is designed to be integrated right into the body of a mouse, positioned where a user’s thumb would naturally fall as they grabbed it. The idea is that a user sits down at their PC, grabs his or her mouse, and is automatically logged in without having to use a password. The technology isn’t just a simple sensor either. Synaptics plans to adhere to the FIDO spec (Fast IDentity Online) to ensure maximum security and easy adoption. If you’re unfamiliar with FIDO, the FIDO Alliance’s goal is to “change the nature of authentication by developing specifications that define an open, scalable, interoperable set of mechanisms that supplant reliance on passwords to securely authenticate users of online services”.

A Prototype Mouse With Integrated Natural ID Sensor.

Synaptics’ idea is that gamers, and organizers of large gaming tournaments—where huge money can sometimes be at stake—can use fingerprint authentication (perhaps in conjunction with other technologies like gaze tracking) to ensure that not only has a certain person logged in, but remains the player throughout the session. Some big-money gaming tournaments are only held face-to-face because remotely ensuring the right player is participating can be difficult. And in-game transactions are becoming increasingly more common, necessitating the need for good user authentication.

According to conversations with representative from Synaptics, a number of gaming mouse manufacturers are interested in the technology, not only for its potential ease of use, but because it’s another way to differentiate their product offerings in a relatively mature market.

Synaptics Wants To Integrated Touch Sensors Into Your Space Bar.

Another of Synaptics’ innovations is called the SmartBar. The SmartBar is essentially a space-bar that’s been augmented with an array of additional sensors. And sliding your thumbs (or other fingers) over the sensors can trigger specific actions, like vertical scrolling, zooming, text-highlighting, etc. The SmartBar software, however, is fully programmable, so potential users could configure gestures to do just about anything. In gaming applications, for example, a quick flick of the thumb could select a particular weapon or make the player lean to a particular side. For PC gamers already accustomed to gaming on a keyboard and mouse, using the SmartBar is rather intuitive, because your thumb naturally rests on the space-bar when using the WASD keys. It’s easy to imagine sliding your thumb to either side to have the player peek out from behind an obstacle or perhaps strafe left or right.

Synaptics hasn’t announced any design wins just yet, but I can see Natural ID and the SmartBar catching on big time. Gamers are always eager to try to new things, and if there’s any possibility of them gaining a tactical advantage, they’ll be all over it. Of course, these technologies have obvious application in the enterprise and on notebooks / ultrabooks as well, but Synaptics’ talks at GDC were targeted specifically at gamers, who I think are the most likely early adopters.