Microsoft has used Cologne based gamescom to reveal their new Xbox 360 motion controller. The device, which though shown at Los Angeles’s E3 Expo earlier this year, has not before been seen by the public market before.
Using a mixture of infrared and visual cameras in addition to a microphone, the new controller uses body temperature at the core of its function. Setting itself to room temperature, it uses heat produced by human bodies to detect the user. Once found, the device ascertains whether the player is new or not, loads a profile and then uses their distance from the Xbox 360 sensor to plot player movement. Kudo Tsunoda, general manager of Xbox 360 and creative director of Natal, the technology behind the controller, explained that the device will monitor and change as users do. “If you take a young child, they grow at quite a fast rate. However, these changes over days or weeks are slight. So if there are small day-to-day changes, Natal will recognise that and update your profile,” he said, adding that because the device uses infrared “you can even log in and play Natal in the dark.”
Speaking of the importance to constantly develop new devices to keep up with the market, Mr Tsunoda said “The current controller is a barrier to some people using our console. To many users, the vast array of buttons and analogue sticks is plain confusing.” He added that the device would add “extra fidelity to core users”, whilst still remaining easy to use for those who played casually.
