XBOX 360 - Project Natal: No Strings (or Controllers) Attached
As I am currently doing research in a similar Genre for my Masters I happened to come across Project Natal. To be honest when I first saw this it blew my socks off. Basically it is an attachment to XBOX 360 (and later editions to come) which allows for controller support without the controller. This hardware has facial, body gesture and speech recognition which can be used in games (though it is important to note that this technology is rudimentary at this point). The website can be found here. Technology is catching up with what used to be only found in science fiction. Minority report here we come!
For those who want to an example of a game currently demoed for this hardware (which is actually only partly functional at this point - they make it look better than it actually is) look no further then Milo (from the makers of Fable). In this game you interact with a little boy - helping him out through his daily business. For example, in one particular interaction with Milo he has a project to do for school, one of the possibilities you have to help him is to write him a letter with a drawing on it which is then scanned by the hardware and recognized (via some hardcore AI which I am now starting to research) resulting in him making some commentary on it.
I can't wait to see the next generation of consoles have in store to compete with this!
- Michael Moncada's blog
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Possibilities of this technology is endless...
Imagine...with this technology you can interact with your games, other people, and even use it in an educational context. The possibilities are endless (well maybe not endless but they are numerous ;)) I will be contacting the people of this project to find out more I would really like to be using this tool as part of my research.
This is amazing, love when
This is amazing, love when she looks into the pond and she sees her own reflection. Even with all the demonstrations shown at E3, I'm still a bit skeptical. Just seems to good to be true.
Can't wait to see a production version of this and try it for myself.
Smoke and mirrors - some of it maybe...but not all
I don't blame you for being sceptical it just seems way to soon for technology to be progressing that fast. The truth is the Milo game was only showing you aspects of the prototype that was working - apparently a lot of it doesn't which is of course understandable given what they are trying to pull off. But you can see for yourself that there are videos in the main project home page (see original post) that show celebrities using it (and their reactions too it). I think the response time is a bit slower than real time if you notice how it responds to you but it is better than the Wii controller sensitivity for sure.
Still its an awesome idea and if they get it working enough for mainstream use it will push gaming to a monumental level - not to mention solving the problem of people sitting on the couch to long.
Agreed awesome video and
Agreed awesome video and technology and I hope it's as good as they advertise. I'll be the first in line if it is. :D
Hey Michael, are you a 360 player? Gamertag?
Sidenote: it would be cool to have a gaming league with all the IT folk here. Myself and a few others (p-dot and Alex Dvornyak) were trying to get an America's Army thing going. Would be fun.
Gamer Tag and such
Hey Mike,
My gamertag is Mikecules. We have a "legion of incredible dudes" as I would like to call the OISE gang here (although we are not really an established or organized, but we play once in a while). If your interested I can hook you guys up with them as well and then together we can all reign pwnage upon the 360 and Windows PC game universe (which consists mostly of 10-13 year old dudes with bad accents) ;) Actually, I am not too great at FPS's as I haven't played too many, but I am a pretty good general gamer and with enough head-shot experience I am sure I can make it to the pro level like many of the guys here.
Cheers,
M
Added. Unfortunately, my XBL
Added. Unfortunately, my XBL Gold has expired and haven't had much time lately to play so haven't renewed.