The Machine is in the Room
When Nintendo’s Wii game console debuted in November 2006, its motion-sensing handheld “Wiimotes” got players off the couch and onto their feet. Now Microsoft is trying to outdo its competitor by eliminating the controller altogether: It has revealed details of how it developed Project Natal, which gives Xbox 360 players the ability to manipulate on-screen characters via natural body movements.The machine-learning technology will enable players to do things such as kick a digital soccer ball or swat a handball in their living rooms simply by mimicking the motion . “Instead of a controller, your body becomes the game input,” says Alex Kipman, Microsoft’s director of incubation for Xbox 360.
The power of combined voice recognition and visual acuity will radically change our interface. This technology makes virtual worlds are real consumer option. No more clunky interface where you right click a pie wheel to perform a task. A keyboard short cut or mouse click gets replaced with the natural gesture of shaking hands. This is going open the doors to the metaverse and make it an inviting place for the masses.
The next steps come when the machine in the room not only see’s us but interacts with us. The AI reaches a point where it realizes what is going on in the room and can interact appropriately . When the XBOX gets a personality and becomes an ear for our daily chatter and provides good advice based on the technosocial profile assessment of the situation.
This is a huge win for Microsoft and the quest to dominate the living room. The power to extend the capacity of hardware with a camera system and software is amazing and the fun we will all have will easy any uneasy feelings about the machine watching us.
