In an announcement that has been speculated for months, Microsoft today announced a new motion-sensing camera for the Xbox 360 which is currently known as Project Natal. Check it out:
While a release date has not been announced for Project Natal, gamers need not worry about upgrading to a new system. It has been promised that all past and future versions of the Xbox 360 will support Natal's technology.
What has been the great barrier separating gamers from their games? Microsoft has the answer - the controller. Today Microsoft set out on their quest to eliminate that barrier by announcing Project Natal, a motion-sensing camera which will be available for the Xbox 360. At a glance, Natal seems to work like Playstation's EyeToy, however, it has much more depth.
The most noticeable aspect of Natal (which differentiates it from Wii) is that its camera senses movement throughout your whole body. Instead of being stuck to one controller performing a "pre-set waggle command" (Kudo Tsunoda), players use their whole body to control everything that a regular 360 controller would normally do.
While it seems to work great in-game, Natal can also be used throughout the rest of the system's interface. Using facial recognition technology, Natal recognizes the person standing in front of it, and signs them in to their respective Avatar. After signing in, the user can move their hand as if it were a magic wand to navigate through menus and select exactly what they are wanting to do. Adding to the already growing trend of social interactivity displayed by Microsoft is a video phone which allows you to call and chat with your friends, showing them what you are doing.
Two tech demos were shown off at today's conference, each taking advantage of various Natal features. Voice recognition, speech commands, hand gestures and more helped to play a three-dimensional version of Breakout, and helped in a second demo as an elephant in an African oasis was drawn from a blank canvas.
Perhaps the most interesting demo of Natal came from Liongate's Peter Molyneux, who said his team has been working with the technology over the past few months. One of the biggest innovations during this process was Milo, a virtual boy capable of understanding and expressing emotions. Milo was shown having very sophisticated conversation with the user who was showing off the product. This is perhaps one of the most advanced forms of A.I. to date.
The most noticeable aspect of Natal (which differentiates it from Wii) is that its camera senses movement throughout your whole body. Instead of being stuck to one controller performing a "pre-set waggle command" (Kudo Tsunoda), players use their whole body to control everything that a regular 360 controller would normally do.
While it seems to work great in-game, Natal can also be used throughout the rest of the system's interface. Using facial recognition technology, Natal recognizes the person standing in front of it, and signs them in to their respective Avatar. After signing in, the user can move their hand as if it were a magic wand to navigate through menus and select exactly what they are wanting to do. Adding to the already growing trend of social interactivity displayed by Microsoft is a video phone which allows you to call and chat with your friends, showing them what you are doing.
Two tech demos were shown off at today's conference, each taking advantage of various Natal features. Voice recognition, speech commands, hand gestures and more helped to play a three-dimensional version of Breakout, and helped in a second demo as an elephant in an African oasis was drawn from a blank canvas.
Perhaps the most interesting demo of Natal came from Liongate's Peter Molyneux, who said his team has been working with the technology over the past few months. One of the biggest innovations during this process was Milo, a virtual boy capable of understanding and expressing emotions. Milo was shown having very sophisticated conversation with the user who was showing off the product. This is perhaps one of the most advanced forms of A.I. to date.
While a release date has not been announced for Project Natal, gamers need not worry about upgrading to a new system. It has been promised that all past and future versions of the Xbox 360 will support Natal's technology.
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