Project Natal

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This article contains information about a scheduled or expected future product. It may contain preliminary information that does not reflect the final version of the product.

Project Natal (pronounced "na-tall"(IPA: [naˈtal])) is the code name for a "controller-free gaming and entertainment experience" by Microsoft for the Xbox 360 video game platform. Based on an add-on peripheral for the Xbox 360 console, Project Natal enables users to control and interact with the Xbox 360 without the need to touch a game controller, through gestures, spoken commands,^[1] or presented objects and images. The project is aimed at broadening the Xbox 360's audience beyond the hardcore base. Project Natal was first announced June 1 at the 2009 Electronic Entertainment Expo. Microsoft said that over 1000 development kits began shipping to game developers that same day. Microsoft has not revealed any price or release date information for Project Natal.

Sensor device

An approximately nine-inch (23 cm) wide horizontal bar connected to a small circular base with a ball joint pivot, the Project Natal sensor is designed to be positioned lengthwise above or below the video display. The device features an "RGB camera, depth sensor, multi-array microphone, and custom processor running proprietary software", which provides full-body 3D motion capture, facial recognition, and voice recognition capabilities. The Project Natal sensor's microphone array enables the Xbox 360 to conduct acoustic source localization and ambient noise suppression, allowing for things such as headset-free party chat over Xbox Live.

The depth sensor consists of an infrared projector combined with a monochrome CMOS sensor, and allows the Project Natal sensor to see in 3D under any lighting conditions.^[1] Project Natal is reportedly based on software technology developed internally by Microsoft (gesture recognition, skeletal mapping, facial recognition, voice recognition) and hardware technology acquired by time-of-flight camera developer 3DV Systems. Before agreeing to sell all its assets in March 2009, 3DV had been preparing a similar device, known as the ZCam.

Technology demos

Three technical demos were shown to showcase Project Natal when it was revealed at Microsoft's E3 2009 Conference:

• Ricochet - a Breakout-like game in which the entire body is used to bounce balls at blocks.
• Paint Party - where the player can make throwing motions to splash paint onto a wall. He/she can choose colours using voice recognition, and can pose to make stencils.
• Milo & Kate - a technology demo created by Lionhead Studios in which the player interacts with a young boy named Milo and his friend Kate, using items and passing him virtual items from real life actions. In an interview after the demonstration, Lionhead founder Peter Molyneux confirmed that the demo was in fact the long running Project Dimitri.
• Chop-Chop - where the player mimics cooking using hand motions
• Burnout Natal - not showcased as a live demonstration, a demo based on Burnout Paradise in which the player uses an invisible steering wheel to control the vehicle.

Code name

The name "Project Natal" follows in Microsoft's tradition of using cities as code names. Microsoft director Alex Kipman, who incubated the project, chose to name it after the Brazilian city Natal as a tribute to his country of origin, and because the word natal relates to birth, which Kipman felt reflected the new audiences the project would deliver for the Xbox 360. Natal is also the name of Christmas in Portuguese.