Microsoft Project Natal

The Xbox ups the Wii’s ante

Home Entertainment 1 of 7

Microsoft Project Natal Courtesy Microsoft

Nintendo brought us the notion of playing games by waving a controller, but Microsoft showed off something even better this year: gaming with no controller at all. A prototype system dubbed Project Natal lets Xbox 360 games respond to anything from full-body lunges to subtle hand gestures, voice input and even facial expressions. Unlike the Wii, you don’t hold anything. Your movements and voice control the game.

The hardware component of the Natal system, which sits above or below the TV, includes a color video camera, an infrared emitter and sensor that give it depth perception, a mic that figures out where you are, and a microprocessor to crunch all that data. The software component is the true breakthrough, though, digesting data in real time from 48 points on the body plus audio input and delivering perfectly smooth game control. There are still lots of questions about Project Natal, including price and delivery dates, but Microsoft has clearly shown that for innovative gameplay, it has all the right moves.
xbox.com

7 Comments

link to this comment

GrizzledGeezer

11/13/09 at 5:24 pm

This isn't yet a commercial product. Why are you promoting it with an award?

link to this comment

A_Rock

11/13/09 at 9:08 pm

because it is a commercial product :P It's release date is next November it's $80 (friggin sweet) and the possibilities with this system have still been underplayed to prevent over hype (ie. Peter Molynuex) Damn his lies!!!

link to this comment

ACone

11/16/09 at 10:47 am

This isn't a new innovation. Does anyone remember the Eyetoy? This is a replication of the Eyetoy for the PS2. The Eyetoy was also capable of picking out the head, the hands, or whatever it was programmed to.

link to this comment

alexalready

11/16/09 at 12:10 pm

Grizzle and Acone are right

"Microsoft has clearly shown that for innovative gameplay, it has all the right moves"

writing that based on a peice of hardware that isn't even out yet is sad and embarrassing journalism.

Next time, just post the Microsoft press release directly and save us the poor writing cliches.

link to this comment

cinemabon

11/18/09 at 5:38 pm

We had an eye toy (still do) and it had major problems in tracking the movements. It depended on the lighting in the room and the programming. Also, I remember the games would freeze up (just as PS3 games do now). Give me better graphics and leave the motion toys for the Wii users.

link to this comment

mcroke

11/23/09 at 5:33 pm

I'm more excited about other applications for this device than video games. I generally don't play games for the exercise or full body experience, thats for sure. I have a wii, and thats as much physical interaction as I want. I would wager that Microsoft is using this as a test bed for other applications of the technology. The idea of using a projector with this system and being able to treat it as a touchscreen with out touching is pretty cool. Sounds like something from a fantasy movie.

link to this comment

kayceefan

11/25/09 at 5:48 pm

Sorry - if this is a duplicate. For some reason my earlier comment just vanished.

Check this out:

www.ted.com/talks/pranav_mistry_the_thrilling_potential_of_sixthsense_te...

Moves from simple to truly impressive.

This is where this idea is going.