Microsoft’s Project Natal Released as Kinect

Project Natal has been released as Microsoft Kinect with fanfare today. The black Kinect sensor plugs directly into the Xbox 360 and contains a camera, audio sensors and motion-sensing technology that tracks 48 points of movement on the human body and includes the ability to recognize faces and voices and is billed as Microsoft’s “Controller Free Game Device”.

With Kinect, game-players no longer need to memorize different commands for a hand-held control. “You are the controller,” said Mike Delman, corporate vice president of Global Marketing for the Interactive Entertainment Business. “You simply step in front of the sensor and Kinect sees you move, hears your voice and recognizes your face.”