360 Motion Cam/Project Natal Confirmed [update] News

In the middle of announcing the heavily rumoured motion camera peripheral, Microsoft unveiled that Stephen Spielberg is currently working on a title that uses the peripheral.

Project Natal accurately tracks human movements and recognises voices.  Demonstrations of the peripheral included a Minority Report like level of control over the Xbox 360 dash (recognising your face and logging you in), along with a 3D Breakout clone where your entire body is used to hit the ball.  A further demonstration took a walk on the creative side.  Paint Party allows you to paint on a virtual canvas, using your voice to choose the paint colour and taking photos to use during the creation process.  Microsoft was also keen to suggest that using the camera offers more exercise than waggling a Wii Remote on the sofa.

But the best demonstration took place with confirmation that Peter Molyneux's rumoured next title is being created for the peripheral.  Lionhead has had access to the technology for a couple of months, and showcased a virtual character named Milo who blurs the boundaries between reality and virtual.  Drawing a picture on a piece of paper in the real world, Milo recognised what he was being given and held aloft the image as he took it.

It seems to be early days for the peripheral although Microsoft has confirmed that the device will work on all models of the Xbox 360.

[update]

Further details on Project Natal have come to light.  The camera is described as the “world's first” to feature the combination of an RGB camera, depth sensor, multi-array microphone and a custom processor running dedicated software.  The camera records body movements entirely in 3D, unlike existing rivals, and won't suffer from poor lighting conditions.

“The next step in interactive entertainment is to make the controller disappear,” said Steven Spielberg, visionary director and producer. “With ‘Project Natal,’ we’ll see games that bring everyone together through technology that actually recognizes us.”