Hands free Xbox 360 unveiled at E3 by Microsoft

The motion-sensing system codenamed "Project Natal" allows players to kick a virtual football or pull an imaginary trigger. This is compatible with the Xbox 360 machine. Of course, we can agree that Nintendo came up with the idea first, but now it is going to have a big rival. E3 gaming expo in Los Angeles saw the announcement of this. It makes use of a camera and sensors to calculate the distance of a player from the TV and then builds up a three-dimensional map of their movements. Unlike the Wii, it doesn't require participants to hold a controller in their hand to replicate actions on screen. It is also responsive to voice commands and facial expressions. Steven Spielberg unveiled Natal. He said: "The next step in interactive entertainment is to make the controller disappear. With this device, we'll see games that bring everyone together through technology that actually recognises us. espite the size of the industry, 60 per cent of households do not own a videogame console. The only way to bring interactive entertainment to everybody is to make the technology invisible."

Microsoft has also announced that it has joined hands with Facebook and music recommendation service Last.fm and they will work on the 360.

[BBC]