http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Natal

For what it's attempting, it's going to fail pretty badly. Gaming without the use of a controller was practically impossible from the start. Even if you have that kind of motion sensing, how would you control the character properly? Character movement such as walking would be the hardest part about it. It's impossible to do without a controller. Even if you think walking in place would solve it, your character would just walk in place also. And how will we switch weapons in FPS games? The idea of using being controller free like that is amazing, but it's impossible for almost every type of game. Nintendo obviously won't be using it due to how Mario games and Legend of Zelda games are played, and Sony technically already tried this with the EyeToy, but had only a few games for it. So what do youy guys think about this?

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In the future it's possible. Your brain does certain things when it repeats certain actions with a controller. Your brain and the controller even sometimes disconnects so you end up failing at your objective, with hand-eye coordination being something learned that improves the chances of this not happening as often. Those places that see action, the misc neurons and logic portions and other places where what you decide to do or think about shows up can be mapped enough to make this work in a controlled setting. The pong like game for example takes practice but can be managed well enough. I think it all takes a reference point no matter how you do it.

This is similar but different to how those control schemes to type using an on screen keyboard for people who cannot move, work. Tracking where the eye normally rests versus where the eyes is moving. A game character can easily be moved in this manner. Say your character stays centered on your view be default, in a first person shooter. The eye would be tracking where to go in relation to that initial XYZ point. A rolling blink forward could indicate walking forward or say two large blinks be the key to starting and stopping to walk, with the direction you're looking being the new Z point on the grid if X and Y was the same. Any number of verbal cues that a user can train software and a camera to pick up on could be used. The more rules you set, the more control options you have. A versed player could use one eye for camera/aim and one eye for movement for example, or some cue to switch between the two.

Whether it's the brain's own neural firing triggering the software or the eyes tracking and behaving to cue it, it has been shown to be possible. An absolute will fail opinion is usually not the one that wins the stock market or innovation race. If you asked me back in the days when I sat playing my Atari 2600 that some day games would look and play the way they do, I'd have been in awe but would have been open to the possibilities. Perhaps this particular project will fail, but the control of software with the mind and a whole slew of other similar technologies is in the pipeline of the future. No doubt about that. It might get perfected when you are an old man having survived the zombie plague, and I am in the ground a dead zombie, or it might get perfected by the time the zombies come and raze the world and we're both fighting them shotgun style. No telling.

The brain is a magical thing, and controlling things with our minds has been a desired end for a lot of people for many years. It might not show up like the skullcaps in Strange Days or as the mental upgrade in Johnny Mnemonic but I have little doubt once the brain is understood even more, people will spend a lot of money developing technology to fork around inside it. They already do, and some of those results are used for misc purpose in diagnosing conditions or trying to predict behavior. A poor opening use perhaps, but it has to start somewhere. Look at where videogames began: the original Oddysey from Ralph Baer worked on while he was employed by the government. One of his tradeshow proto boxes ran a primitive Table Tennis software that Nolan Bushnell "borrowed" the idea for use in his Pong game from, which resulted in him ultimately having to pay Baer for after losing in court. So much technology starts off in a crude manner with little promise except the hype, and some of it blooms in time.

Just my opinion though. I don't think anything is impossible at this point in my life. hehe

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As of right now, I have no idea how something like that will work well.

However, everything starts off small. We'll eventually have VR games, almost completely parallel to reality. But that won't be until much later.

Seeing as this isn't even released yet (and I don't plan on getting a 360. Ever.), I can't say anything regarding this itself. But the idea of virtual reality isn't really far fetched anymore.

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The Local Video Gaming Lunatic

Recent stuff I'm into:

Watching: A Certain Scientific Railgun (ep.14, stalled), Hoshi no Kirby (ep. 71, stalled), Nazo No Kanojo X (ep. 8), Acchi Kocchi (ep. 8)
Reading: nothing

I'm much more interested in the concepts of it's advancements as a human interface device then I am about how it will effect gaming. These developments are certainly interchangeable to a degree, but I'd be much more interested in say waving my hand to change the channel (or browse a web page on my tv) or switch a track on my stereo then to play games like that.

Yeah, the future will be entertaining to say the least. You often see new technology like this come in via the medical field, gaming, and misc intertwined adult services. It is scary what some people do now with an internet connection, a webcam, software, and biofeedback gear in their spare time.   BBC has had some amusing documentaries on the subject before.

I am not 100% sure how I feel about the integration of say, our mind, hardware/software control schemes, and our physical actions in the real world. On one hand it's ripe with awesome potential, and on the other it's just another way someone can rickroll me. What if I get a virus and it makes me do the chicken dance in my robot suit until the battery packs die and I'm stuck inside? Eh? Scary stuff. I will have to bring snacks inside the robot mech shell just in case this unfortunate misfortune finds me.

Now, I am entirely behind stuff being semi solid but in hologram form, misc software apps being run in the mind to the extent that it feels real, and so forth. That illusion of reality, without the whole Surrogate robot doing my bidding out in the real world seems like a nice pasttime. So many things you could do in that world but never do in the real one. I could eat bacon all day long, and then chase ninjas with a kitana. Or live action Bomberman against pirates and ninjas. So many great avenues, without even leaving PG-13 land.

Someday... :idea:

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