Earlier this year Microsoft announced a new gaming technology code named Project Natal. The new platform interprets data from various sensors including a camera, depth sensors and a microphone, in such a way as to remove the need for game control hardware. Without the need for game controllers to interact with their computers, gamers we be able to use their bodies and body motions to interact with their games.

What has to happen for this to work properly is for the Natal platform to recognise what the person is doing and to translate this, in near real-time, into signals that the software can understand and react to. (This also means that there is going to have to be tons of processing power available to do the job in way that delays do not become evident)

Since the Microsoft announcement, a wide range of gaming companies have been involved in Natal R&D. Last week at the E3 Gaming Show a demo of Natal by Peter Molyneux of Microsoft Game Studios showcased the capabilities in a stunning demo. Click here to watch the demo on YouTube

Bye Bye Mouse

After watching the demo a few times I believe that anyone involved in the design of interactive computer content (in our case websites) , has got to see this!
I think that the Natal technology gives a clear glimpse of how we are going to interact with our computers a few short years from now.

In a nutshell, your computer will recognize you, know your name, your moods and will interact with you in a meaningful way. See how Milo, the computer generated boy in the demo, can assess the mood of the woman he interacts with during the demo.

In a similar way, your computer will interact with your hand and body movements without the need for a mouse to translate your wishes by clicks and scrolls. And maybe we will be able to hand the computer documents in the same way as in the demo, instantly bridging the gap between the real world and the digital domain.