http://www.cnbc.com/id/34622112

CES 2010

Project Natal for the Xbox 360, which debuted to wide praise at E3 last summer, lets players control video games with movements and words.

And gesture recognition companies hope that the gaming-industry buzz generated by Natal will extend into the wider consumer electronics world.

"The momentum they have created around Natal has created a lot of momentum in this industry," says Michel Tombroff, CEO of Softkinetic, a 3D-gesture recognition middleware provider that recently struck a partnership with Texas Instruments. "They have validated you can use 3D cameras to build consumer products. … This has applicability in many areas and people don’t yet understand how far it can go."

Microsoft has made it clear that its ambitions aren’t restricted to gaming. At the Streaming Media West trade show in November 2009, Marc Whitten, the general manager responsible for the Xbox Live service, said he could envision a future where Natal would recognize users by voice – and know the content they’re interested in.

"I believe that this will be the largest leap of TV experience since the remote control," he said.

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Seems like NATAL ignited a firestorm of interest in controller free electronic interaction.  WOW!!!

Very surprising that NATAL is already a game changer and it hasn't even launched yet.

The hype for Natal outside of the gaming industry is insane. Natal will be huge.

Natal type tech will be huge...... in 2025

It wont do much for the 360

Nintendos already got the casuals, and core gamers might say "oh wow neat" when they see it on paper, but most of us arent going to want to jump around to play most games. Big name publishing houses might still do a test the waters type simple game, but AAA support has already been pretty universally dropped, is the inside word.

Not that its a bad idea to pursue... I mean Nintendo started playing with new interfaces and means of control back int he 80's... they never gave up, and 15, 20 years later they reaped a huge reward with the Wii. Expect the same with Natal, if you get your hopes up about a big game changer in 2010, you are just setting yourself up for dissapointment.

Xelloss said: Natal type tech will be huge...... in 2025 It wont do much for the 360 Nintendos already got the casuals, and core gamers might say "oh wow neat" when they see it on paper, but most of us arent going to want to jump around to play most games. Big name publishing houses might still do a test the waters type simple game, but AAA support has already been pretty universally dropped, is the inside word. Not that its a bad idea to pursue... I mean Nintendo started playing with new interfaces and means of control back int he 80's... they never gave up, and 15, 20 years later they reaped a huge reward with the Wii. Expect the same with Natal, if you get your hopes up about a big game changer in 2010, you are just setting yourself up for dissapointment.

And core gamers will have plenty of reasons to pick up a 360 even without Natal.

A family that exists of both the casual adults and more core kids will have a console that appeals to all.

I don't have anything against 360,but am I the only one who's not impressed with Natal?Wii owns this market already,whats all the fuzz about?Joysticks for life!If i wanna exercise,I'll go out and jog or play basketball,i wont stay inside waving my arms like an idiot in front of a tv :P

@thx:

That will be pretty rare, pretty sure most kids get their consoles in their room or a gaming room. Most adults I know that arent just total casuals and already owning a Wii, buy their kids their own console once they get past a certain age. Sure, they will move some, as a curiousity to folks who already have a 360.... but 360 sales overall arent going to be affected. There will not be a huge surge of folks who already own a Wii scrambling to pick up the newest gimmick on the block.

Motion gaming is a nonstarter until 3d TV, the only real attraction will be "total immersion". Full body control does not have anything of real substance to offer until that time. Development on that type of thing will probably start in earnest in 8-10 years, and 15 or so years out we might start seeing meaningful software. And it will be cool. ( yes 3d tv will be here soon, but I dont predict that being widely adopted and perfected for many years either).

Xelloss said: Natal type tech will be huge...... in 2025 It wont do much for the 360 Nintendos already got the casuals, and core gamers might say "oh wow neat" when they see it on paper, but most of us arent going to want to jump around to play most games. Big name publishing houses might still do a test the waters type simple game, but AAA support has already been pretty universally dropped, is the inside word. Not that its a bad idea to pursue... I mean Nintendo started playing with new interfaces and means of control back int he 80's... they never gave up, and 15, 20 years later they reaped a huge reward with the Wii. Expect the same with Natal, if you get your hopes up about a big game changer in 2010, you are just setting yourself up for dissapointment.

2010 seems more realistic than 2025.  Natal will probably be a huge success along with several other technologies that have been done before but have been limited by the hardware ie: the new tablet computers coming out should be far more successful than there previous models of 5-6 years ago.

The guy is not hyping Natal ... he praising this type of technology and guess what ? he is working on it !

Eye Toy >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Natal until it is released ....

AngelosL said: I don't have anything against 360,but am I the only one who's not impressed with Natal?Wii owns this market already,whats all the fuzz about?Joysticks for life!If i wanna exercise,I'll go out and jog or play basketball,i wont stay inside waving my arms like an idiot in front of a tv :P

hahaha funny but great point 

but trust me america is way to lazy 

im skeptical about natal but i dont wanna say nothing negative about it since none of us havent try it yet 

i will give it a try tho 

You have the inside word huh Xelloss?