Microsoft's Project Natal has been doing the rounds at various trade shows for the best part of a year, having made its debut at E3 2009, but it looks as though we're going to see the final hardware exactly one year later - at E3 2010.
The Xbox 360 team has today sent out a little teaser to the press, stating that the motion-sensing device will be granted its own exclusive press conference on June 13th.
Referring to the device as "Project Natal", Microsoft seems to suggest the final name for the peripheral will be announced at the event - presumably with a finalised hardware design shown off prior to a late 2010 release.
In recent weeks, pictures of what appears to be an upcoming Xbox 360 chipset - codenamed Valhalla - have sparked rumours of a slim, redesigned Xbox 360 console. E3 may well be the stage upon which Microsoft reveals any potential new designs.
In its early prototype form, Project Natal (pictured above) is a horizontal peripheral measuring roughly 25cm that contains a variety of components - including a webcam, a multi-array microphone, a depth sensor and a processor running proprietary software.
It’s designed to sit below or above a television screen and connects to an Xbox 360 console. Once connected, it emits an array of beams that hit objects in its path and bounce back to the device. With the data returned, the on-board processor’s proprietary software is able to map a supposedly-accurate image of everything in its field of view. Natal will also identify human presence via facial recognition and allows users to control both the Xbox 360 interface and games using gestures or voice commands.
On paper, it has the potential to be one of the most revolutionary gadgets in gaming history - whether or not it'll live up to its billing remains to be seen, but we should get a good idea come June 13th.
