The rumor mills are running this week with news that Microsoft is reportedly in talks with 3DV Systems. Such an acquisition could give the Xbox 360 the motion sensing capabilities that it’s lacked (and that have given the cheaper, but less capable, Wii leg up in the market over the past two years).

We’ve seen 3DV’s technology on display, and the ability of their camera systems to accurately detect 3D motion was (at least in demo settings) quite impressive. What 3DV hasn’t had (in the year or so since we saw them — at the 2008 CES) is a mass market partner/customer to bring the technology to market. The Xbox 360 could certainly be that platform, and with Microsoft’s forthcoming move in to Apple Store-style retail outlets, it’s not far fetched to imagine Microsoft productizing this for PC use as well.

If this rumor pans out, it’ll be another feather in the cap for proponents of optical motion sensing. GestureTek has been racking up an essentially continuous string of wins and awards, particularly in the mobile space (where GestureTek’s ability to utilize existing cameras has huge BOM benefits).