Popular Slot Games At Casinos Get Tactile Feedback Retrofit

Casinos Retrofit Popular Slot Games with Tactile Feedback Enhancement from 3M

Award-winning MCT System Technology Enlivens Existing Slot Games
SID 2008
Gaming Technology Summit 2008
G2E Asia 2008

METHUEN, Mass.-- May 06, 2008 --When casino operators from Connecticut to California needed an after-market technology solution to help create renewed player interest and promote increased usage for their legacy video slot games, 3M Touch Systems' new "tactile feedback" touch system offered them the enhancement they were looking for. Known as the MicroTouchT Capacitive TouchSense® System (MCT System), this next-generation touch interface incorporates tactile feedback technology to give on-screen game buttons the sensation of pressing traditional mechanical buttons. Now players can see, hear and actually "feel" the on-screen button selections of their favorite games. And, as casino operators upgrade legacy games and game developers incorporate the tactile experience into their new game designs, slot players should experience a whole new dimension of play.

Since the MCT System can be implemented in two different ways, as either part of the original, direct-from-the-manufacturer gaming machine or as an after-market retrofit to existing video slot machines, casino operators are taking the initiative to upgrade games in designated areas on their slot floor. Over the next few months, these enhanced games should provide casinos with the key player feedback and usage patterns needed to expand the MCT System upgrade throughout the slot floor.

One factor helping speed game conversions is that casino operators have found the upgrade process relatively easy. By working with their preferred display integrators, casinos can incorporate the MCT System into their planned CRT-to-LCD upgrades or can add tactile-feedback components to existing LCDs. Then, once tactile-feedback zones are created to correspond with existing on-screen touch buttons, players can experience tactile feedback with their favorite games.

Contributing to the notion that tactile feedback could be the "next big thing" in slot gaming technology, the MicroTouch Capacitive TouchSense System was recently awarded finalist honors in Casino Journal's "Top 20 Most Innovative Gaming Technology Products of 2007" and Casino Enterprise Management Magazine's "Top Ten Slot Floor Products for 2008".

"Since the MicroTouch ClearTek product has been a gaming touch interface standard for the past 15 years, 3M is in a unique position to implement this next-generation touch interface," said Scott Hagermoser, gaming business unit manager, 3M Touch Systems. "By working with both casino operators and game manufacturers, 3M can implement tactile feedback into existing slot games, as well as future slot games."

Interested casino operators and game manufacturers can "feel" the MCT System tactile-feedback technology at the following venues over the next few months or contact 3M for an on-site demonstration.

SID Display Week 2008, Los Angeles, CA, May 20-22

Gaming Technology Summit 2008, Henderson, NV, May 21-22

G2E Asia 2008, Macao SAR, China, June 4-5

About the MicroTouch Capacitive TouchSense System (MCT System)

The MCT System combines a MicroTouch ClearTek II capacitive touch sensor and an enhanced MicroTouch EX II controller with tactile-feedback technology licensed from Immersion Corporation. The MCT System creates on-screen tactile feedback for game players by calculating the touch coordinates, which are passed to the gaming application on the CPU and then to the TouchSense Effects Library. The assigned tactile effect is passed back through the EX II controller to activate multiple actuators mounted to the touch screen to create the specified tactile sensation that the player "feels." The elapsed time from the initiated touch to receipt of tactile response is virtually undetectable by users.

About 3M Touch Systems, Inc.

3M Touch Systems Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of 3M, operates globally and reports through the 3M Electro and Communications Business, headquartered in Austin TX.

3M Touch Systems provides fast, accurate and reliable touch products to customers worldwide under the "MicroTouch" brand. Popular interactive applications include casino gaming, retail point of sale, foodservice, hospitality, self-service, mobile handheld, and interactive digital signage. For more information about MicroTouch products, visit www.3M.com/touch01.

About 3M

A recognized leader in research and development, 3M produces thousands of innovative products for dozens of diverse markets. 3M's core strength is applying its more than 40 distinct technology platforms - often in combination - to a wide array of customer needs. With $23 billion in sales, 3M employs 75,000 people worldwide and has operations in more than 60 countries. For more information, including the latest product and technology news, visit www.3m.com.

About Immersion Corporation

Founded in 1993, Immersion Corporation (www.immersion.com) is a recognized leader in developing, licensing, and marketing digital touch technology and products. Using Immersion's advanced touch feedback technology, electronic user interfaces can be made more productive, compelling, entertaining, or safer. Immersion's technology is deployed across automotive, entertainment, industrial controls, medical training, mobility, and three-dimensional simulation markets. Immersion's patent portfolio includes over 700 issued or pending patents in the U.S. and other countries.

3M, MicroTouch, and ClearTek are trademarks of 3M Company.

Immersion and TouchSense are trademarks of Immersion Corporation in the U.S. and other countries.

All other trademarks listed herein are owned by their respective companies.

For all other inquiries, visit www.3M.com/touch01

Release Summary:

Known as the MicroTouch(TM) Capacitive TouchSense(R) System (MCT System), 3M Touch Systems new tactile feedback touch system incorporates tactile feedback technology to give on-screen game buttons the sensation of pressing traditional mechanical buttons. Now players can see, hear and actually feel the on-screen button selections of their favorite games.

Keyword Tags:

3m, 3m touch systems, casino, casino operators, touch screen, touch screen interface, touch systems, video slot games, video slot machine games

Contacts

3M Public Relations
Jane Kovacs, 512-984-6747
jkovacs@mmm.com

Cosmopolitan Magazine

Cosmopolitan

by Phyllis Fine , Friday, May 30, 2008

THE FRENULUM, THE RAPHE, the ticki-bicki -- one of these is NOT an area on a man's body that can be stimulated for extra-credit "erotic excitement," according to the June issue of Cosmopolitan. Can you guess which it is?

So, yeah, Cosmo lives up to its reputation for providing explicit, sex-manual-worthy tidbits. Some seem potentially useful. Take the tips to focus on overlooked parts of the obvious male erogenous zones, like those areas named above (OK, not the tiki-biki). But others veer toward the absurd. Though, hmm... If I was at work, and I took the suggestion to insert a small, portable vibrator activated by ringtones, I'd get MUCH less irritated when a co-worker's unanswered cell played endless repetitions of the "Twilight Zone" theme.

Still, it's only in the sexual arena that Cosmo goes off the beaten track with unfamiliar vocabulary. In its other field of expertise, relationships, advice is dumbed-down and unsophisticated. Take "The Secret Girlfriend Weapon," which aims to put to practical use a study that "focusing on each other's good qualities" is key to a long-lasting love connection. Here 's the Cosmo-speak version: "Whatever your dude does that makes you crazy, find the silver lining. He's sloppy?.. So he'll probably let you make decisions like how to decorate the apartment. Niice."

The constant "dude" and "chick" references throughout the mag make me feel as if I'm trapped simultaneously in '90s and '60s time-warps. They drag the prose down to the level of the many pieces of reader-generated content, like "Bitch It Out" and "Guy Confessions" -- anecdotes about being caught in the (sexual) act, being hit in the balls during sports, etc. "I have a friend who comes over to eat my food and then leaves behind dirty dishes...." begins another fascinating entry. It's all very high school blogish.

The professionally written pieces do provide some flashes of insight and wit, like a great cavewoman-type dance invite I wish I'd had the chutzpah to try back in my single days: "You, Me. Dance floor. Now." "How To Snoop On Your Man" offers the obvious (examine every single thing he owns), except for the innovative tip to sniff a man's gym clothes: "They should be smelly. If not, where was he?"

If you're looking for genuine journalism, though, there's little beyond "How A Date Rapist Works," a well-written piece that clearly spells out how to avoid being a victim.

I haven't read Cosmo regularly since Helen Gurley Brown was editor (she stepped down more than 10 years ago). Sure, it could be annoyingly cutesy, and men were topic No. 1 then as now. But remember that old ad campaign from the Brown days: "If you want to find me, you'll catch me reading Cosmopolitan"? (Or words to that effect -- I couldn't find examples of the real copy. If anybody has, then I'd love to hear from you.) The women in those ads seemed a helluva lot more well-rounded than today's presumed reader -- didn't they mention interests like sky-diving?

On the day that the "Sex In The City"movie premieres, I'm wondering if (the younger) Carrie Bradshaw's columns would fit inside this incarnation of Cosmo. Or would her thoughtful explorations of relationship issues be considered too, oh, intellectual for the present target reader? If so, then -- dude, how sad is that?

MAG STATS

Published by: Hearst
Frequency: Monthly
Web site

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Phyllis Fine is columns editor for MediaPost.

Magazine Rack for Friday, May 30, 2008:
http://blogs.mediapost.com/magazine_rack/?p=500

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Pioneering Effect Marketing Firm Promotes Social Action, Drives Results Through Brands, Music, and Special Events

MusicMatters Creates Ultimate Green Experience for Jack Johnson's 2008 World Tour; Pioneering Effect Marketing Firm Promotes Social Action, Drives Results Through Brands, Music and Special Events

Going Beyond the Green Standard for Nearly Two Decades

MINNEAPOLIS-- May 29, 2008 --From the first Concert for the Environment in the '90s to the latest Jack Johnson world tour - to significantly boosting revenues for an array of organic brands like Ben & Jerry's, Stonyfield and CLIF Bar - MusicMatters is proving that green experiences generate dramatic results. The Minneapolis-based company creates strategic partnerships, innovative, action-oriented campaigns and memorable experiential online and onsite activities to raise awareness about critical environmental issues that move millions to take action. (See Media Kit case studies). In many ways, the Johnson tour, like the company's work for recording artists that range from Gomez and the John Butler Trio to the Dave Matthews Band, The Police and others, is a culmination of everything it's done for almost two decades and a preview of what's possible in the future.

As campaign director for Billboard magazine's number one green artist, Jack Johnson, and his highly anticipated 2008 World Tour, MusicMatters has helped create the green infrastructure and experiential branding components that are making the tour an unqualified success. The tour kicked off in Australia and Japan last month and is set to rock the U.S., Canada and Europe beginning in mid-June. Johnson, whose new Brushfire release Sleep Through the Static is already a number one hit, is passionately committed to greening every aspect of this tour in order to minimize environmental impact. To get there, Johnson and his team worked with MusicMatters to create a low environmental impact tour that generates high environmental awareness and action.

"Jack Johnson's music and sustainable lifestyle inspire fans worldwide. This tour is all about music, but it's also a profoundly powerful vehicle for change. This tour is a first-of-its-kind in many ways and fans will experience on a very visceral level how much fun they can have while doing good," says Michael Martin, founder and Prez of MusicMatters.

MusicMatters has worked with Johnson to ensure that this tour is as green as possible. This includes fueling tour vehicles with biodiesel, offsetting 100% of tour carbon emissions, offering fans the chance to offset their carbon footprint from traveling to and from shows, offering eco-friendly tour merchandise, refillable water bottles and working with venues to reduce waste and recycle. MusicMatters has also helped to create the All At Once partnership with non-profits worldwide. This new interactive community empowers fans to take action toward a healthier community and planet. "Based on the concept that individual action, multiplied by millions, creates global change, the tour will set the new 'green standard' in the industry and encourage established superstar acts and emerging artists to adopt similar campaigns for their tours," according to Martin.

"Michael Martin is a true green pioneer," says Johnson. "He not only understands how to merge music with message, he has brilliance for creating strategies and experiences that move audiences to action. Plus, he and his team bring an authenticity to events that fans appreciate. I consider him an integral part of my team."

MusicMatters Helps Deliver the Architecture for Jack Johnson Tour and Others

The company has been providing the campaign architecture for green tours and events for almost two decades. At the center of the Johnson tour is a first-of-its-kind platform - a worldwide community to bring about environmental change. Read more about it at this link: www.musicmatters.net/press/20080528

About MusicMatters

For nearly two decades MusicMatters has made headlines, effected policy change and delivered bottom line results to scores of values-based businesses.

Pioneering a revolutionary process called Effect MarketingT, MusicMatters, through campaigns and strategy development, reaches millions of consumers each year and inspires them to take action. In addition, MusicMatters creates street and retail events to build and drive awareness and sales. The firm is the country's leading live marketing agency for the organic and natural industry.

Clients include Annie's Inc., Jack Johnson, Organic Valley Family of Farms, The Police, Stonyfield Farm, Dave Matthews Band, Earthbound Farm, Horizon Organic, CLIF Bar, Nature's Path, Santa Cruz Organic and more.

The Minneapolis-based firm with a staff of 20 is nationally recognized for the unique, powerful and entertaining brand experiences they create. (See Company Backgrounders in the Media Kit, MUSICMATTER'S GREATEST HITS/SOCIAL CHANGE INVENTIONS on the company's website).

For more information - or to interview Michael Martin - please contact Martin Keller at Media Savant Communications Co., 612-729-8585, mkeller@mediasavantcom.com

Contacts

Media Savant Communications Co.
Martin Keller, 612-729-8585
mkeller@mediasavantcom.com

Thank you Hagarray!

My good friend Hagarray has replied and we hope to have him setup with a
blog soonest. I name Hagarray "hag" because of the way he looks. He knows
this and it does not hurt his feelings (I think). We will soon seeing hag's
English here and on his own blog which I will help him understand.

How do you like our logo for x09? can you see the number 9 in the logo?
Hinted: turn your head slighly to the right. If you go to the left you will
see the letter P that should not be there, but it makes the 9 so we have to
have it.

Hagarray, will you join me?

I have invided my friend Hagarray to blog with me. Will he accept it?