LOS ANGELES — With the help of Cirque du Soleil, Microsoft unveiled the official name of their revolutionary, hands-free motion controller last night. Behold Kinect.
Although very small, the Kinect device — previously named ‘Project Natal’ — contains a camera, audio sensors, and motion-sensing technology that tracks 48 different points of movement on the human body. It also has the ability to recognize faces and voices. When you walk in front of it, it knows who you are. This is nuts to me.
In addition to the official name announcement, a host of games have been teased as well:
Kinectimals
Play with virtual animals.
Joyride
A racing game where players steer with their hands.
Kinect Sports
Boxing, bowling, beach volleyball, track and field, soccer, and table tennis.
Kinect Adventures
River rafting with friends.
Dance Central
Goes better with alcohol.
Kinect will offer a completely new way to navigate your 360, as you’re able to simply brush your hand from side to side to move through menus, etc. Microsoft is using the new tech to attract the casual crowd that is so infatuated with the Nintendo Wii. Recognizing that not everyone is comfortable with a controller, Kinect will offer incredibly intuitive ways to play games that will eliminate any button-pressing whatsoever.
There are a couple new Kinect vids and IGN has them all right here.
More to come from the Microsoft press conference happening in just a few minutes…
Source: IGN
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