The device, which connects to the Xbox 360 game system, tracks players' voices and body movements and recognizes their faces. It includes a camera, a multi-array microphone and software. A video showed the potential in martial arts, racing, skateboarding and trivia games.
Microsoft executive Don Mattrick demonstrated the technology, code-named Project Natal (named after a Brazilian city). Live demos included a painting game that lets players fling paint onto the screen like Jackson Pollock. Another dodgeball-type game had a player moving forward and back, left and right, using arms, legs and the whole body to ricochet balls and knock down walls of 3-D tiles.
Game developer Peter Molyneux (Black & White) showed an experiment from his Lionhead Studios with a lifelike character that talks and listens to you and converses like a real person.
"What designers and what this industry does with Natal will change the landscape of the games we play," Molyneux says.
No release date or price was announced, but Mattrick said development kits were being sent to partnering studios.
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Source:http://www.usatoday.com/life/lifestyle/2009-06-01-hands-free-microsoft_N.htm
