Xbox 8 / Kinect 2 To Feature Improved Interaction Between Gamer and Avatar

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Xbox 8, the next iteration of the Xbox console from Microsoft will feature improved interaction between the gamer and avatar. 

Using Kinect 2, when a gamer is using a controller, Xbox 8 will be capable of displaying the user's Avatar in-game mimicing the actual gestures of the controller input.  If the gamer presses the A button to perform a kick, the Avatar will mimic that kick rather than require a gamer to physically kick.  If the gamer is using a steeriing wheel, the Avatar will mimic that too.

In addition, Xbox 8 will allow both you and your friend's Avatar to be displayed when playing a Kinect 2 game that supports on-line multi-player gaming.  The coolest part of this will be voice chat in a game.  The communication system will delay communication until the gamer's Avatar catches up with the other gamers position in-game.  So if as a group, you and four other players are all entering a building but one of your friend's connection is laggy so he hasn't quite caught up with you, the audio and related gestures will be delayed for him until his connection catches up.  

Another feature coming to Xbox 8 / Kinect 2 will be the ability to identify specifically in a room where the speakers are.  Using the microphones on Kinect 2, the device will be able to identify the specific location of each speaker in a room.

The user detection feature currently available with Xbox 360 and Kinect will be upgraded as well.  Multiple users can be uniquely identified at the same time associating them with their gamer profile and Avatar, unlike the current system which is limited to identifying the user associated with the gamertag/profile. 

More specifically for Kinect 2, the big news is that Kinect 2 will be a time-of-flight depth sensing system, rather than the Structre Light technology of Kinect.  One of the major benefits of this change will be the ability to properly identify a user in Sunlit room conditions. 

Not a lot of major stuff, but hopefully you found it all interesting. 

Cheers!