Monday morning, Microsoft showcased what it’s calling Project Natal. The subject of years of rumors, and longstanding speculation, it’s a technology that takes the unfulfilled dream of Sony’s Eye Toy and makes it real. Its cameras and computer interact in ways we’ve only seen in movies.

To put it to imagery, picture the gaming interface of Nintendo’s Wii, without the need of a controller. It’s a user interface that recognizes and responds to a person’s movement and environment. Along with included speech recognition abilities, the user interface promised begins to approach a very real virtual reality. The vision and display may not be totally immersive, but it’s still a dramatic step down the evolution road.

What Natal offers is a new type of immersive experience. And for Microsoft that is a key to expanding the company’s reach to non-core gamers or taking the traditional to an entirely new level. Natal is about potential, and while Microsoft promises it will work with the existing Xbox 360 consoles, so far there’s no delivery date.

Source: Seeking Alpha