Project Natal is being developed by Microsoft and will bring control-free gaming and entertainment experience to the Xbox 360 game console. It is an add-on peripheral that will use gestures, spoken commands, or presented objects and images. It is expected to be released in Christmas 2010 for the predicted price of $80.
Here is a video demonstration from E3 last year.
The sensor used is a 9 inch wide horizontal bar. The depth sensor consists of a infrared projector combined with a monochrome CMOS sensor, which allows the sensor to see in 3D under any ambient light conditions. As a result, the sensing range of the depth sensor is adjustable, with the Project Natal software capable of automatically calibrating the sensor based on gameplay and the player's physical environment, such as the presence of chairs.
Israeli developer Prime Sense software will be adopted by the Natal, which interprets 3D scene information from a continuous infrared pattern.
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ReplyDeleteWill be interesting to see how this affects sales of the overall XBOX 360 vs. Wii. 2008 was the year for Wii market dominance; as it surpassed the 360 in January in monthly sales and became the market leader in overall sales - jumping into first at above 10 million units in May. It seems clear that Microsoft is trying to jump on the 'motion gaming' bandwagon in attempt to close the gap. I predict that by the time it is released (2011) Wii's market dominance of than 3 years will make it impossible for the 360 underdog to be the leader again.
ReplyDeleteRelevant graphs can be seen at http://www.tgdaily.com/slideshows/index.php?s=200902131&p=1
http://www.tgdaily.com/slideshows/index.php?s=200902131&p=2
Project Natal definitely is an amazing project, but I think that no matter how advanced the technology is, it will ultimately be up to
ReplyDeletea. How the product is marketed
b. What type of games are available for this product.
I remember even before the Wii came out, PlayStation thought they could be the market leader by introducing the Eye that also tracked user's movements. Unfortunately, it was ill marketed and the games were unappealing.
Also, I noticed the XBox 360 already has the XBox Live Vision Camera, so I wonder how Microsoft will market these two products. I suppose they could be complimentary to each other, Natal could be the newest Live Vision's, or Live Vision will just slowly fade away as Natal takes over.
link:
http://www.amazon.com/PlayStation-3-Eye/dp/B000VTQ3LU
http://www.xbox.com/en-US/hardware/x/xboxlivevision/
Project Natal is really breathe taking and every kid's fantasy. I always imagined a console with nothing but your body to communicate with when I was 9 years old and thought we are far away from such technology. It is really interesting to see how technology develops in such a short amount of time and nothing is impossible in today's advanced world. I believe that Sony is not going to stay away from the technology and is preparing a surprise for us for the PS3. As usual, Microsoft develops a console and system while Sony is secretly working on the other side of the page. Project Natal will attract alot of sales and I can't wait to see what Sony has for all of us.
ReplyDelete