Interactive TV Game Controllers - A variety of permutations for the present and the future (iPhone, iPod Touch, Wii mote, XBox 360 Controller, Gesture...)

Building on my previous post, The Convergence of TV, the Internet, and Interactivity: Updated and Revised, I thought I'd focus on the different ways people can interact with converging content through interactive TV, internet-connected game consoles, and so forth. Is it time someone came up with a user-friendly UNIVERSAL CONTROLLER that could handle cross platform, cross media interaction?

How About the iPhone as Controller for Apple TV Gaming Console?
(Read the article's comments section to see what people think about this concept.)

Of course, if you have a Wii, you know about the Internet Channel:


Wii + Internet=More

Video of a real 12-year-old kid navigating through the Wii Internet and Wii News/Earth. He provides a great "think aloud" analysis of his interaction.



"They should make a video game that is geography based on something like this..."

Xbox permutations:

This:

 

Or maybe even this, if you blog, chat, or  tweet:


The following social/interactive applications can be controlled by your Xbox Controller:(The photos were taken from Gizmodo "Microsoft E3 Keynote Archive" and Zatz Not Funny!: Xbox 360: Welcome to the Social?)


Sky Player on Xbox 360 to Launch Mid-October




With the introduction of gesture-based interaction, such as Microsoft's Project Natal, in the future, no controller will be required to interact with your screen, no matter the content.



Project Natal for Xbox 360 could put Microsoft ahead of Wii with controller-free gaming


YOU ARE THE CONTROLLER
XBox Project Natal Website

Motion Sensing Confirmed for 2010 (Sony PlayStation 3)


RELATED
Interactive demonstration of how BBC's Red Button works for interactive TV content.  You can press the red button on the mockup, located on the lower right-hand section of the screen.
BBC Red Button Demo

BBC Red Button launches new CBeebies interactive service
Digital Television Group 9/28/09

Social Television and User Interaction
(Scholarly articles on this topic from the ACM Portal) 
Stefan Agamanolis (researcher in this area)


Interactive TV Research from UITV.INFO