The new Virtual Hoops Jam features one on one challenges against actual footage of four of today's top basketball stars - NBA star Jason Kidd, Olympic athlete and WNBA star Dawn Staley, WNBA star Tamika Catchings, and NCAA shooting guard Casey Jacobsen. Participants stand in front of a blue screen and have their video image chromakeyed into the virtual court action.

They see themselves onscreen, able to interact with the animated basketball and go one-on-one with the player of their choice on a dynamic 3D virtual basketball court.

Virtual Hoops Jam also features the debut of GestureTek's brand new GestXtreme game engine. The updated technology includes advanced hand-tracking techniques, high resolution graphics and advanced shot physics, making the experience more realistic than ever before. A running commentary and live-action characters enhance the participant's encounter further, making Virtual Hoops Jam an exciting and memorable experience. The unique dynamics of the system allows the players to move up the court by virtually dribbling in the direction they want to travel.

GestureTek's patented GX technology allows users to physically participate in the virtual world through a combination of sophisticated artificial intelligence and video gesture analysis of the user's real-time video image. This gives participants the ability to perform intricate manipulation of both virtual objects (grabbing, bouncing or throwing virtual objects in a seamless fashion) and 3D navigation of the VR landscape.

"Users do not have to wear, hold or touch anything, which leaves them free to simply step in front of the video camera and actively move about in the screen, as they use their full body to interact with the computer world." States Vincent John Vincent, President of the GestureTek. "It is a totally engaging full body workout if you really get into the challenge."

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