Ballmer: Natal is 2010 Microsoft’s big thing
By James • Apr 30th, 2010 • Category: Industry News
- Photo: Microsoft
On a recent trip to South America, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer has been punting the company’s Project Natal motion device technology as ‘the most exciting product’ the company is releasing in 2010.
Beyond gaming
In a presentation with various executives and Microsoft partners in Bogota, Colombia, Ballmer noted it seemed strange to be talking to a room full of executives about videogames, before adding that was the wrong way to look at Natal. Ballmer said the technology was ‘general purpose’ and would, inevitably, creep into the rest of our lives.
Lofty ambitions from Ballmer, but integrating this technology would be quite simple once the core Project Natal product exists, and it would depend on the partnerships Microsoft is able to forge for it. The company would do well to take a cue from companies like Skype who understand relationships with other hardware companies.
It’s viable, sure
- Photo: Micrsoft
As Ballmer is quick to point out, there are several immediately apparent areas where the motion device can be implemented outside of a video gaming console. We’re talking as a substitute for a television remote through gesturing, the turning on and off of various pieces of technology and using voice recognition as instructions and so on.
What is Natal, again?
Project Natal is Microsoft’s motion device add-on for the Xbox 360 that is slated for release in the last quarter of the year. It is Microsoft’s response to the motion-controlled video gaming phenomena popularised by Nintendo. Unlike the Nintendo Wii, though, Natal does not require a controller to detect the motion, with the Natal device capable of detecting full body motion, with sound responsiveness built in, too.
And while it’s all well to predict people want this, the classic remote control has not survived as long as it has for no reason. Hopefully Microsoft and Ballmer aren’t so shortsighted that they have not realised this.
Tags for this article: project natal, skype, Xbox 360
