Project Natal uses several technologies simultaneously to capture and replicate a player's motion on-screen and in-game. Natal, which could be readily described as a Wii sensor bar on sterois, uses an RGB camera, intelligent depth sensor, and multiarray microphone to collect voice commands, video, and movement with realtime physics, which is then processed by a brand new processing unit and proprietary software. As you would expect the RGB camera is used for video and picture capture, as well as facial recognition, but the real technological meat and potatoes of the device is it's depth sensor and processing. Project Natal's depth sensor detects 3-D space through the use of a monochrome CMOS sensor and an infrared projector. The pairing of these two technologies, Microsoft says, makes Natal capable of detecting movement, orientation, and gestures in any lighting environment. Project Natal's processing is what brings all of the data together, and can differentiate between players and their environment, as well as detect specific body parts, from arms and legs to even a player's head.
Surprisingly, Microsoft not only unveiled the initial details of Project Natal to the media today, they also demoed the product live and in person. Members of the development team demonstrated two tech demos -- a painting game and a kickball-style game. The painting game essentially has players using virtual cans of paint to splash on a canvas and create images. The painting game really showed the technology's ability to detect arching movements and swift, but subtle hand motions. The kickball scenario, on the other hand, displayed how the camera could intelligently detect a player's arms, legs, and head's orientation and velocity in 3-D space. For the kickball game, the player swatted, kicked, and headbutted kickballs to knock down distant objects.
What was impressive about both demos was the speed and efficiency of the device. As far as we could tell, there was little or no lag between a player's motion and the in-game reaction. Equally impressive was how effectively the camera detected the precise angle of a player's thrusts, jabs, and kicks, and how accurate the subsequent in-game representation was. Still, these were fine-tuned demos and prepped to perfection, but it is a promising start.
| ||
| This news and more in the Daily Fix.
- Halo: Reach |
For more on Project Natal, stay tuned to IGN.com.
