NewsSony Shows Off Primitive Surface Computer, Pats Self On Back
Posted 11/06/09 at 07:47:14 PM by Ryan Whitwam
Color us a little confused by this one. Sony has been showing off a surface computer of sorts. The system was constructed with Atracsys and utilizes a camera to track the locations of your fingers, meaning you don’t have to physically touch anything. For some reason, it’s being shown off on a table top… that you touch.
Sony/ Atracsys also showed how the camera system can track facial movements and even calculate mood. The point seems to be that you could interact with a computer without actually touching it. This would be invaluable in an operating room, for example, where sterility must be maintained. Sort of like Natal on the Xbox, apparently. Despite what they’re saying the camera tracking is capable of, Sony is making it look like a glorified Microsoft Surface. Check out the story link above to see the demo video.
ColumnsGame Theory: Project Natal
Posted 10/08/09 at 01:45:31 PM by Thomas McDonald
Two years after dismissing, and even mocking, the Wii Remote, Microsoft has had a change of heart about motion control. Project Natal is an attempt to get rid of the controller altogether, replacing it with a tool that combines an “RGB camera, depth sensor, multi-array microphone, and custom processor running proprietary software.”
All of this provides full-body 3D motion capture, facial recognition, and voice recognition, then converts that information into real-time game control. The figures onscreen respond to your movements and even react to emotions based on facial expressions.
You know Microsoft is serious when it wheels out the big guns to deliver the overstatement. Such as when Steven Spielberg was asked for his thoughts on Project Natal at this year’s E3: “This is a pivotal moment that will carry with it a wave of change, the ripples of which will reach far beyond video games.”
Continue reading after the jump!
NewsProject Natal Sets Its Creepy, Glowy Sights on the PC
Remember that oddly named motion doohickey Microsoft debuted at E3? Project Natal? Well, while ushering in the Future of Gaming may be its main objective (followed in close second by taking over the world via robot revolution led by conniving A.I. child Milo), Natal isn’t just the tech toy of tomorrow. It can be used to for bigger things, higher purposes. It can be used for office work.
“Both the Xbox guys and the Windows guys latched onto [Natal’s uses for media consumption as a whole] and now even since they latched onto it the idea of how it can be used in the office is getting much more concrete, and is pretty exciting,” Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates said.
Your office isn’t the only place a series of subtle facial expressions could potentially organize, either. Home’s where the heart is, as they say, and the heart of the home of the Future will apparently be Natal.
"I think the value is as great for if you're in the home, as you want to manage your movies, music, home system type stuff, it's very cool there," Gates said. "And I think there's incredible value as we use that in the office connected to a Windows PC. So Microsoft research and the product groups have a lot going on there, because you can use the cost reduction that will take place over the years to say, why shouldn't that be in most office environments."
A flick of the wrist to schedule a meeting. A wave of the hand to organize some files. That’s the future as Microsoft sees it. So, uh, why do we make fun of Apple geeks for needless, overly showy flourishes again?
(…Or a finger motion that totally says, “These aren’t the droids you’re looking for” to sort your movie collection. Ok, never mind. This sounds awesome. Like “force-pushing” an automatic door. Come on, we can’t be the only ones who do that.)
Posted 07/16/09 at 12:25:12 AM by Nathan Grayson
Remember that oddly named motion doohickey Microsoft debuted at E3? Project Natal? Well, while ushering in the Future of Gaming may be its main objective (followed in close second by taking over the world via robot revolution led by conniving A.I. child Milo), Natal isn’t just the tech toy of tomorrow. It can be used to for bigger things, higher purposes. It can be used for office work.
“Both the Xbox guys and the Windows guys latched onto [Natal’s uses for media consumption as a whole] and now even since they latched onto it the idea of how it can be used in the office is getting much more concrete, and is pretty exciting,” Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates said.
Your office isn’t the only place a series of subtle facial expressions could potentially organize, either. Home’s where the heart is, as they say, and the heart of the home of the Future will apparently be Natal.
"I think the value is as great for if you're in the home, as you want to manage your movies, music, home system type stuff, it's very cool there," Gates said. "And I think there's incredible value as we use that in the office connected to a Windows PC. So Microsoft research and the product groups have a lot going on there, because you can use the cost reduction that will take place over the years to say, why shouldn't that be in most office environments."
A flick of the wrist to schedule a meeting. A wave of the hand to organize some files. That’s the future as Microsoft sees it. So, uh, why do we make fun of Apple geeks for needless, overly showy flourishes again?
(…Or a finger motion that totally says, “These aren’t the droids you’re looking for” to sort your movie collection. Ok, never mind. This sounds awesome. Like “force-pushing” an automatic door. Come on, we can’t be the only ones who do that.)
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