Digital Home Thoughts: Behind Every Natal is a PrimeSense

"The short, the setup is built around three major components: PrimeSense's PS1080 SoC (described as the 'brain'), a CMOS sensor and an infrared light source. The infrared (invisible to the human eye) covers the nearby area in an IR Light Coding image which is picked up by the CMOS sensor and the SoC turns it into a 3D map. To enhance accuracy Microsoft adds in a further colour camera which the SoC uses to compile a second image and combine the two."

Gaming sure has changed since I was a kid. Back then, you either had a joystick with a single button, or a paddle which either had a turning knob or a lever. Now, led by the Wii, games are moving into motion based technologies. While it probably will not completely replace the controller, it does allow for a much wider range of games and opens things up to a greater audience. Project Natal looks really interesting, and I wonder how it is able to differentiate between different people and recognize who is giving a command, but I actually would love to see this kind of technology integrated into more than just an entertainment center. On a personal level, I could see this being wonderful for home automation and control.