Microsoft Kinect, formerly known as Project Natal
Kinect is a "controller-free gaming and entertainment experience" by Microsoft for the Xbox 360 video game platform. Based on an add-on peripheral for the Xbox 360 console, it enables users to control and interact with the Xbox 360 without the need to touch a game controller through a natural user interface using gestures, spoken commands, or presented objects and images. The project is aimed at broadening the Xbox 360's audience beyond its typical gamer base.
Kinect was first announced on June 1, 2009 at E3 2009 as "Project Natal". Microsoft said that over one thousand software development kits began shipping to game developers that same day. It is scheduled to be released in time for Christmas 2010. Reports say that it will be released in November 2010. Although official pricing has not yet been announced, one source has claimed the price will be US$149 when purchased as a standalone accessory or US$100 when purchased as part of an Xbox 360 Arcade bundle (bundle price US$299). Various other sources have placed it at anywhere between GB£30 (~US$50) and 1,499 SEK (~US$200) for the stand-alone accessory.
It is rumored that the launch of Kinect will be accompanied with the release of a new Xbox 360 console (as either a new retail configuration or a significant design revision). Microsoft has dismissed the reports in public, and has repeatedly emphasized that it will be fully compatible with all Xbox 360 consoles. Microsoft indicates that it considers it to be a significant initiative, as fundamental to the Xbox brand as Xbox Live, and with a launch akin to that of a new Xbox console platform. Project Natal has even been referred to as a "new Xbox" by Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer at a speech for the Executives' Club of Chicago. When asked if the introduction will extend the time before the next-generation console platform is launched (historically about 5 years between platforms), Microsoft corporate vice president Shane Kim reaffirmed that the company believes that the life cycle of the Xbox 360 will last through 2015 (10 years).
The skeletal mapping technology shown at E3 2009 was capable of simultaneously tracking up to four users for motion analysis, with a feature extraction of 48 skeletal points on a human body at a frame rate of 30 hertz. Depending on the person's distance from the sensor, Project Natal is capable of tracking models that can identify individual fingers.
According to a supposed instruction manual, the sensor contains a 'motorized tilt mechanism' and has to be plugged into a power socket.
Project Natal hardware is confirmed to be based on a reference design and 3D-sensing technology made by Israeli developer PrimeSense Ltd.
On June 13, 2010, Microsoft revealed prior to its showing at E3 2010 that the device would be officially named Kinect.
