Kinect (previously Natal)

[EvilBoris]

http://venturebeat.com/2009/02/21/sources-confirm-microsoft-is-buying-3dv-systems/

The purchase price was very small, thanks to the weak economy and the long gestation that this technology is going through. 3DV has raised $38.5 million. 3DV?s investors include Elron, a member of Nochi Dankner?s IDB group, Pitango, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, and RDC Rafael Development Corp.
3DV has been working on its ZCams for some time. These cameras function much like Sony?s EyeToy, but they?re much more accurate at detecting motion. That?s because they?re 3-D depth cameras, which sense how far away an object is from the camera. In the camera?s black-and-white imaging, the closer objects are lighter and the more distant objects are darker. The camera captures the locations of objects many times per second, so it can detect an object and its trajectory, making it perfect for game control purposes.
When I did a demo of the technology, I was able to control a game just by waving my arms around. I could fly a plane by pretending to hold a joystick and also box against a virtual fighter by throwing punches toward the camera. The motion detection was accurate, much more so than with the Wii, which uses relatively cheap but primitive accelerometers and infrared technology for motion detection

[hudson]

It's gonna be like that Minority Report shiz on the dash. I will wear a long leather coat like Neo for that occasion. Sounds interesting...

[dataDave]

It's gonna be like that Minority Report shiz on the dash. I will wear a long leather coat like Neo for that occasion. Sounds interesting...

I won't wear anything, and control stuff with my knob.

[wakka]

*sigh*

I like normal controllers

[ChrisF]

Microsoft Project Natal

Thought this deserved it's own thread as there's more feedback / info coming out about it now.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-10797_3-10255403-235.html

Tsunoda said the technology behind Natal includes an RGB camera, an infrared camea, a multi-array microphone and a depth map. These features allow the system to track a player in 3D space, as well as to capture spoken commands from multiple people, none of whom have to wear a headset.

as well as an official site:

http://www.xbox.com/en-US/live/projectnatal/

Also one of the guys behind it (who did the original Wiimote on his forehead demo): http://procrastineering.blogspot.com...ect-natal.html

Already up and running with Burnout Paradise too according to the first URL

[FelixofMars]

It has potential, sadly the live demo at E3 was terrible. Hopefully this will be more an addition than you actually having to play games FULLY with motion sensing. I really think that at the end of the day a controller is the best option for most games.

Of course there will be exceptions.

[importaku]

Pretty cool idea, but considering that people constantly bitch about having to move their arms using the wii, how will they cope with having to move even more with this new method?

[ne0star]

I'm not convinced by any of the motion stuff this year as far as gaming is concerned, but the 'geek' in me liked the idea of being able to control the NXE interface like minority report

[JP]

Understandably, Tony Hawk doesn't like the idea of this...

Tony Hawk doesn't think too much of the new Xbox 360 motion-sensing camera and will happily stick to his plastic skateboard thank you very much.

"We actually tried to get [Tony Hawk: Ride] running with a camera, but it wasn't accurate enough," Hawk told MTV Multiplayer. "Plus you can't really do ollies, grabs and flips when you're just standing on nothing."

Hawk's board peripheral has in-built accelerometers as well as sensors that judge hand and foot movement off of the deck. Players aren't required to match moves exactly, but tricks like manuals (wheelies) and 180 spins can be fully recreated in living rooms.

The Xbox 360 motion-sensing camera was unveiled during Microsoft's E3 conference and demonstrated by overseer-with-the-glasses Kudo Tsunoda. But our friend Peter Molyneux from Lionhead stole the show unveiling Milo & Kate, his top secret camera-game that has unnervingly impressive interaction with a little boy using the new Project Natal Xbox 360 tech.

[EvilBoris]

There is the potential for awesomeness with this.

I'm still thinking of some kind of psychic power FPS, being able to to throw people around just by moving your arms or by being able to throw fireballs and change what powers you were using by shouting "FIREBALL"

Or even as something as simple as being able to steer a guided missile with just your subtle head movements.

Being able to record a dance or movement for your avatar for when you win a game or even for when it is just standing on your friends dash would be funny too.
BAM!

[Ady]

I wonder how the people who find having to move their wrists a little bit more than usual to operate the Wii remote will cope with this? It has potential, but the demo shown makes it look like a glorified EyeToy thus far.

[ChrisF]

->Open Spoiler<-

Masturbation Hero

has already been touted on other sites!

BTW, don't forget... this has voice control too, so its not just about moving your body.

edit: Engadget before I get any accusations!

[Matt]

Shocked this is working with Burnout. Guess all the processing is done in camera! Hope that doesn't hurt the cost.

Am I the only person who likes to splodge on the couch when playing gamer? Maybe I'm just lazy

[EvilBoris]

I'm sure you aren't

I never got to play my Wii much for that vey reason and because it didn't seem to work very well how close I sat to the screen

[powkisser]

i didnt realise johnny lee had a hand in this, with his wiimote projects i can see why microsoft have got him onboard. Now i belive it could be a very exciting tool for developers