Kudo Tsunoda Talks the Future of Kinect

[Spectral Jester]

Kudo Tsunoda has discussed Microsoft's plans for the future of Kinect, pointing to increased input sensitivity, something he hopes will allow players to become "like actors within a narrative."

 

Indeed, the Microsoft spokesman reckons that the motion and voice-controlled device will eventually be able to detect your tone of voice and interpret your stance.

 

"We've done so much work just with software to enhance Kinect's abilities over time," said Tsunoda. "Since it came out, we've been able to do a lot more seated play, let people scan in objects and have the game recreate them. Even Kinect Rush scans in players and turns them into Pixar characters, which is awesome."

 

Looking to the future, Tsunoda continued, "What we're really interested right now is creating experiences that help you develop real world skills that help you in other parts of your life.

 

"We're also looking at how we can make people more like actors within a narrative. I think the work done in Mass Effect 3 has been awesome. We want to get to the stage where not only can Kinect detect what you're saying but also tone of voice and body stance, and work that into the narrative. There are some really compelling experiences to be gained from that."

 

For Tsunoda, Mass Effect 3 is a key example of how far Kinect has come. "One thing that has been great is integrating Kinect into a wider variety of titles and genres," he said.

 

"Mass Effect 3 does a great job of integrating Kinect in a unique way that's different from other titles and in a way that really pays off for its fans.

 

"Another thing about second-generation stuff like Kinect Star Wars was improving the responsiveness, such as when you wield the lightsaber. If you're going to be a Jedi, you want a lightsaber that moves really quickly and smoothly in your hands. A lot of work has been done on that one-to-one action.

 

"But the most important thing is that there's so much variety and so many people doing different things with Kinect, that second generation basically becomes something you couldn't see in launch titles.

 

"It's been great to see how people are using Kinect in ways that we would never have thought of," concluded Tsunoda. "I'm continually surprised by the stuff we see from Kinect's development community on a daily basis. That's what I'm most excited about: how much room there is to invent new things with Kinect."

 

[Mr Biggles]

I don't think the Kinect will ever become that powerful that it will be able to detect stance and tone of voice etc, but it could certainly be something very special