Microsofts Project Natal
Microsoft showed quite a bit of expected and unexpected things at their E3 Press Conference today, but if there is one thing that will get people talking, it’s Project Natal. This is the kind of thing that, if it works, could change the game in a lot of ways. Of course in the likely event it doesn’t work the way Microsoft is promising, it will be just another expensive useless piece of hardware in your house. For right now, all I can really say is that it seems ambitious a hell, and I hope it works.
If you enjoyed this post, please consider to leave a comment or subscribe to the feed and get future articles delivered to your feed reader.
Sooooo, basically if I put this giant, 10′x 8′ foot mat down in the middle of my living room, I can play “Wii-like” games on my X-Box 360 and try on dresses. Pass.
It’s not a mat, its a 9 inch by 4 inch bar (much like the Wii’s) that contains multiple cameras and microphones. This goes way beyond what the Wii does.
The real issue will be price (Microsoft is guessing it will cost around $200), and the fact that peripherals like this rarely work as promised (look at videos of what Nintendo claimed the Wii could do before launch).
But if it does work, it could be cool as hell. No remote needed to run the user interface and voice commands to the system is enough to get me excited about the possibilities.
I agree, it’ll never work like they show here. The idea is way cool, but this technology just isn’t there yet, and it will just frustrate the hell out of me, much like touch screen cell phones
although I’m seriously considering a palm pre…
I’m starting to think this MIGHT actually work, like touch screens on cell phones (I don’t care what you say Brian, touch screens work great, and the Pre looks great
).
Anyway, every opinion I’ve read from E3 seems to point to this working. I’ll remain skeptical until MS lets me try it, but there is a lot of technology in this, including an Infrared camera, so there is no reason it couldn’t work like MS claims.
I finally figured out why I don’t like touch screens (since we’re on the subject) I like to be able to drive my phone with one hand, besides typing a text or email. And from what I’ve played with on the iphone, it’s pretty difficult to do since you have to swipe, and jesture etc. I end up holding it in one hand and driveing with the other, but on my palm I can navigate completly with one thumb. Maybe it just takes some practice, and maybe it’s just my preferance.
It is definitely a practice thing (wow, off subject!). I can drive my iPhone with one hand no problem, I can even type with one hand, but I admit it is painfully slow, since I don’t text much it’s not really an issue.
I think some of it is just how you personally use a phone and how you expect the phone to react.