Project NATAL: An in-depth look

There's been a lot of fuss over in Microsoft's Seattle headquarters about a new pilot project set to take the world by storm. Project Natal (pronounced, apparently, as Nah-Tahl not Nay-Tahl)is described as a revolutionary gaming phenomena with "No strings (or controllers) attached". Though the logistics of the system have not been described in-depth (nor is it necessary, the complexity of it all would probably be beyond me), its safe to say that Natal is unlike anything we have seen and is straight out of the imagination of todays gamers when they were, say, 12.

Here's the official release video promoting the product, acting more as a commercial than anything else:

Admittedly, I thought this was a joke after the first scene. It seemed absolutely impossible. It begins with amazing human-AI interaction, none we've ever seen before (come on, the badass on TV can recognize teenage jargon!). Then the fight scene kicks in and makes every Tekken fans dreams come true, as the character on screen demonstrates completely fluid movement and body reception to the gamer. I'm sure hardcore Sony fans will remain stringent that they would rather sit on their couch and game rather than work up a sweat. Now I'm definitely not much of a supporter of Microsoft, but I would much rather get up and kick, say, Darth Vader's ass rather than do it using a controller.

To emphasize the human-to-AI interactions, this video is worthwhile to check out:

Once more, Natal manages to get my hairs on edge. Not only are the graphics and movement of Milo breathtaking, his interaction is second to none. No matter how much you may want to barbecue Microsoft on a pitchfork, you have to admire the effort it must have taken to create such an expansive database of interactions it matches the human brain. He can understand emotion as well as pick up facial recognition, and project that of his own. Phenomenal, don't you think?

This final video will definitely be the nail in the coffin to your sanity:

Notice the insane motion detection of this system. There is an impossibly small lag, with a degree of accuracy so surreal and profane its straight out of a science fiction movie.