Microsoft may no longer need to chase the ‘golden rivers’ of software, search and advertising. What the world’s [once] mighty software giant has up its sleeve to catch up with the likes of Apple and Google may lie in the realm of fantasy – or fantasy gaming to be exact.
The recent unveiling of Microsoft’s controller-free gaming system ‘Kinect’ is, once again, swamping the various media platforms with the terms ‘game-changing’ and ‘revolutionary’. The system allows users to interact with games without any controls. The video above gives details.
Formerly known as Project Natal the new system is due for launch in the US in early November (just in time for Christmas 2010). Microsoft hasn’t yet revealed when the rest of the world gets a chance to play. So far there are only a dozen or so games including Kinect Sports, Kinectimals and Kinect Adventures. The system also interacts with older Xbox features like Zune, which means users can start and stop watching content with gestures and/or voice.
In digital terms this is ‘revolutionary’. One can only imagine the possibilities of such technology as it is refined and developed. Imagine what gesture recognition interfaces will do to the communications industry, the design industry, the art industry, the engineering industry, the movie industry and the social media industry? How long before we see this technology used in combination with augmented reality and real time communications?
Initially of course it is designed to get American and European families off the couch and interacting physically with their home entertainment systems. But just imagine what kind of content could be created for this system? People interacting with movies and having the ability to choose the direction of the narrative, or cookery fans being able to ‘create’ a meal from a selection of ingredients provided by a programme. And then of course there is the multi billion dollar e-learning sector. Imagine kids in classrooms all over the world interacting physically with historical worlds, geographical landscapes, ancient species, musical scores, mathematical solutions and great works of literature?
There are so many possibilities within the realm of controller-free interaction it puts touch-screen technology in the ha’penny place. If the future is digital the future of digital might just centre on the possibilities of systems like Kinect.

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