AJ Circhirillo / Roundup
Gaming is something that people have always held dear. Previous generations entertained themselves with cards, chess pieces and board games.
With the technological surge and creativity of the last few decades, game designers are able to create video games that are astonishingly life-like and visually impressive. We have seen this improvement through classic games series Diablo, as every new installment in graphics and add-ons (that usually deliver quite fast) just keep improving.
Innovative technology has earned the current generation the name “Generation Y.”
Technological advances have reinvented how people live; one of the newest contributions is called Project Natal.
Project Natal is an attempt to bridge the gap between human and computer interaction.
The goal is to provide the player with the opportunity to feel as if they are actually the character on the screen.
“Not everyone will get into it right away,” said GameStop employee Ian Silverman.
Silverman has been playing video games since the age of five, he has been a video game tester and currently goes to DeVry for game simulation programming.
“It’s going to need time before it takes off.”
Microsoft representatives could not be reached for information. However, they have a webpage dedicated to the project where people can view videos of it’s unveiling at the
Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) in June 2009.
“I love the notion of a camera looking at me,” said Michael Zyda, the director of USC’s Gamepipe Laboratory and their game development programs.
“However, I have a scientific responsibility that tells me that we built the language that allows the computer to do what it does.”
The Xbox system has been relatively successful in holding its own against both Nintendo, who has been an industry leader since the 80’s, and also with Sony and its Blu-ray wielding Playstation 3.
It is no wonder why Xbox seems to regard its Project Natal as their new golden ticket, revealing what it is able to do but concealing how it is able to do what it does and why it is able to do it.
Nintendo already has motion controllers with its Wii system and Sony is coming out with their own motion controllers for the PS3. Xbox will counter with its Natal boasting no need for controllers.
Xbox makes it seem like Natal is capable of all kinds of things including the ability of the camera to scan and recognize certain materials in the real world and portray them on the screen.
However, cognizant thought for a machine is impossible as of right now. “It has to give you the illusion of intelligence,” said Zyda.
On Xbox.com, they would have the viewer believe that it is possible for the machine to interact with the gamer.
This part is true if and only if both the computer and the individual playing the game understand that part of the programming.
For example, there is a demo for a role playing game called Fable 3 on Xbox.com that shows a gamer having a conversation with a character created in the game.
It seems like there is full interaction and understanding between the gamer and the character in the game. This is true if the gamer talks about scenarios in the game’s programming.
However, If the gamer were to talk about something outside of the game’s programming, communication between both game and gamer are lost.
Project Natal has some very interesting and exciting abilities, including video chat and controller free gaming. Other abilities include the individual’s ability to sit on their couch and drive a racecar merely by holding out their hands and grasping an imaginary wheel, or by flipping through their Netflix queue by the wave of a hand.
Gaming has taken leaps and bounds from its pixilated cousins of yesterday. Human imagination coupled with computer technology has made many things that were once thought impossible, possible.
Still, a question remains. Is Project Natal an innovation or an illusion?
The gaming community will get their answer later this year as it’s scheduled to be released this holiday season.
(Photo Courtsey of Microsoft)
