Kinect

It has been well over a year since Microsoft first unveiled its plans for a new hands-free gaming system – the Kinect for Xbox 360 – and on November 4th, the plans for the revolutionary technology were finally realized. First announced June 1, 2009, under the code name “Project Natal”, the Kinect has quickly set itself up to take control of the next generation of gaming. Since its launch, the Kinect has already exceeded 2.5 million sales, and with the arrival of the holiday season, the new gadget is expected to be in continued demand.

Don Mattrick, president of Microsoft’s Interactive Entertainment Business, said in a statement, “We are thrilled about customer response to Kinect, and are working hard with our retail and manufacturing partners to expedite production and shipments of Kinect to restock shelves as fast as possible to keep up with demand.”

Although preceded by both the Nintendo Wii and the Playstation Move, the Kinect is new in that it requires no controllers, the first and only innovation of its kind. Instead, the Kinect works off a natural user interface which uses microphones, sensors, and cameras to provide full-body 3D motion capture, facial recognition, and voice recognition.

On the down side, the Kinect requires a lot of elbow room to play. Additionally, the voice recognition can be frustrating to use and problems have been reported with the sensors in direct sunlight. Although it may seem relatively cheap at only $149.99, the Kinect only works if its user already owns an Xbox 360 (which itself only retails at $199.99). In light of this, the Kinect may seem like a rather expensive add-on to an already expensive system.

On a larger scale, the Kinect, along with the Windows Phone 7, constitutes Microsoft’s plans to begin to incorporate a natural user interface into many future designs. Future plans may include working this new motion and voice-activated technology in products ranging from video games to vehicles. Unquestionably, the Kinect has changed not only the world of gaming but the technological world as well.
Written by: Emily Smoke