I can\'t believe there isn\'t already a thread about this. Microsoft\'s keynote today introduced \"Project Natel\"-- It\'s a sort of sensor bar for the 360 armed with a camera, microphone, and some sort of \"depth sensor\" that claims to provide real-time 3D motion tracking for total gaming immersion.
Just watch this video: it\'s fucking unbelievable.
I have no idea how this works. With a (presumably) affordable, tiny sensor, the Xbox is somehow processing a crapload of stuff: it\'s separating a person from the background, tracking said person in 3D (all by itself! No tracking dots, greenscreen, etc), understanding the tracked motion, and somehow, doing all this instantly. Not only that, but its camera is somehow wide enough to cover an entire living room and presumably sensitive enough to work without light.
I have a semi-experienced background in film and video effects. How can Natal work? Even 2D tracking can only be done with expensive, advanced software, like Motion 3 or Adobe After effects-- and it\'s nowhere near real-time, and it isn\'t always accurate. For 3D tracking, there\'s an entire new class of expensive programs, and I\'m pretty sure those usually require tracking dots or a lot of processing time.
If this actually works-- well, I\'m pretty damn amazed.
( Edited 02.06.2009 08:28 by MasterStyl )