In 1999, Japanese amusement manufacturer, Konami, began to expand beyond the pure stepping or button-hitting variety of arcade gaming (such as Beatmania and Dance Dance Revolution), and was experimenting into technological applications to allow the 'whole' dancers body to be mapped and monitored.

Using a specially developed and first-ever IR sensor system, Konami released DanceManiaX. The game allows the height of the player's hand (when waved) or foot (when kicked) to be monitored and registered for the player's motions to the music-made part of the game.