GBTV #570 | Microsoft’s Project Natal
Posted on: June 2, 2009
Posted in: Video
Posted by: Cali Lewis
Shownotes:
Microsoft is looking to change the world of gaming with Project Natal. I’m looking forward to seeing this in person, but take a look at the videos!
Project Natal | Painting
Project Natal | Ricochet
Project Natal | Steven Spielberg
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« Project Natal | Steven Spielberg
« Project Natal | Steven Spielberg
June 2nd, 2009 at 5:26 pm
Nice podcast thumbnail. Very clever (legs matching).
Zack
June 2nd, 2009 at 5:30 pm
I hope Natal performs the way it does in the “concept” video, but the live-action demos so far have been full of the avatars’ arms and legs contorting all over the place, showing that the Natal isn’t getting good motion tracking information or its processing it incorrectly or something.
How well is the Natal at filtering out when someone walks behind you when you’re playing? When a friend waves their hand in front of you? Two people playing side by side?
Looks fun, but I hope they deliver the product performance they demo’d in the fake concept video (kid scanning his own skateboard, etc). I mean, really, Microsoft needs a win right about now.
June 2nd, 2009 at 8:14 pm
I agree with John Gruber @ daringfireball.com.
June 2nd, 2009 at 9:55 pm
If Microsoft is “changing the world” with this project, how about Google Wave (a far more ambitious project, according to me) and its new messaging concept that surpasses mail+instant messaging+wiki in one promising tool…
This long video demonstrates all the possibilities of this new concept :
http://www.youtube.com/v/v_UyVmITiYQ&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0
June 2nd, 2009 at 11:20 pm
Wow, Microsoft’s Project Natal looks AMAZING! I’m glad you’re always there to keep up with tech for me. I didn’t even know about this.. so much tech came out the past week! :)
June 3rd, 2009 at 7:54 am
If Project Natal actual performs as the demo video, then I would be impressed. However, I will not get my hopes up. Too often Microsoft, and others, release hyped up videos only to fizzle when the project is released.
June 3rd, 2009 at 11:12 am
The concept video was great … maybe I’m being miserable, but it looked too-good to me ! Has anyone tried it for themselves ?
Ditto MS Surface – how’s that turning out ?
If MS wasn’t quite to chaotic & into smooth-hype, I might be more of a believer !
Great to see the renewed energy in GeekBrief – the holiday in Oz must’ve been good !
June 3rd, 2009 at 3:11 pm
Given their tradition of maudlin products, I’ll take M$ advertising and promotion with a wry smile and a little cynicism.
^..^~
June 3rd, 2009 at 5:58 pm
Thanks Cali and the GB team for the plug to my new site!
June 3rd, 2009 at 6:56 pm
Ok, I have to admit, I’ve seen some of the new information on Natal, including the announcement on his blog that famous Wii-hacking Johnny Chung Lee is working on the Natal team, and will now admit that there could be something to this.
Check out Lee’s blog here: http://procrastineering.blogspot.com/2009/06/project-natal.html
Of interest in the fact that it is not just a camera inside the Natal, but a 3D sensor, actually creating in real-time a cloud of points for everything it detects.
Says Lee: “Once you have the 3D information, you then have to interpret that cloud of points as “people”. This is where the researcher jaws stay dropped. The human tracking algorithms that the teams have developed are well ahead of the state of the art in computer vision in this domain. The sophistication and performance of the algorithms rival or exceed anything that I’ve seen in academic research, never mind a consumer product.”
Ok, maybe its time to get a 360.
June 4th, 2009 at 12:16 am
more interesting insights here :
http://venturebeat.com/2009/06/02/microsoft-games-executive-describes-origins-of-project-natal-game-controls/
June 5th, 2009 at 3:04 pm
If you’re looking forward to Project Natal, be sure to check out http://www.project-natal.com for all the latest news and info.
June 9th, 2009 at 11:38 am
“Gaming the way it should be changed” Can we *please* get rid of the split screen tv? What’s wrong with multiple TVs?
September 1st, 2009 at 10:38 pm
Dreaming of 3D TVs + Project Natal – http://bit.ly/JWETz