Support NeoGAF

[Doodis]

I'm sort of surprised they would include that. Seems like that would add a lot of extra cost.

It actually makes a lot of sense to include that. Since you're going to be moving around in different games (some standing, some sitting, etc.), it would be a huge hassle to readjust the camera before every single game you play.

With the motor, it can just track where you are and adjust itself accordingly.

 

[PSGames]

Probably face or body tracking to automatically adjust between standing and sitting positions.

I would think something like that would add substantial cost to he device. Sounds cool though.

 

[Monty Mole]

The unknown rear adapter on the 360 Slim may well have been a power outlet for Natal - looks like old 360s will need Natal plugging in to the wall judging by this.

EDIT: Also, perhaps the tilting mechanism is for developers only? And that's what requires the external power source.

 

[beast786]

Probably face or body tracking to automatically adjust between standing and sitting positions.

Thats freaking cool as hell.

 

[AndyD]

Probably face or body tracking to automatically adjust between standing and sitting positions.

Doubt it. The field of view is quite wide vertically. You would have to be right next to it to stand and your head go out of the field of view.

 

[Mr.Green]

Images and article that poor Mr.Green isn't allowed to see at work.

Can some kind soul do something about this?

Pretty please?

 

[D4Danger]

Can some kind soul do something about this?

Pretty please?

any better?

Exclusively on Multiplayer.it and thanks to our readers we can present you the first pictures ever published Project Natal, taken during a testing phase for speech recognition. Our source, who asked to remain anonymous for obvious reasons, says he was recruited by a company marketing and market research Italian and was recruited to carry out such testing on that Christmas will continue for four months, ie a mirror of time commensurate with the alleged date of issuance of the apparatus final. The photos show what we are told to be a prototype of Natal and we do not know what the final version. The camera includes USB connection for X360 and seems to have some bearing sensor integrated or balance. Natal is connected to a 360 and Debugging Software on Windows 7, the tester (which are quite numerous) should pronounce certain texts in a room with several microphones and obviously Natal, probably to work on speech recognition capabilities in various environmental situations. This is a sample of 600 sentences, ranging from "light up Xbox 360" in "go on Facebook" and more. Among other things you can see photos of what appears to be the device manual, or at least an outline of it.
M.it unable to verify the reliability of the source relies on the wisdom of our readers to assess if the photos that we offer here at the bottom of exclusive worldwide are credit worthy or not.

 

[Neuromancer]

The tilt is so it can find you wherever you go.

 

[PSGames]

This is a sample of 600 sentences, ranging from "light up Xbox 360" in "go on Facebook" and more.

Turn on 360 with Natal??? Yes please!

Come to think of it this is probably why it has a seperate power source!

 

[Dynoro]

Turn on 360 with Natal??? Yes please!

Come to think of it this is probably why it has a seperate power source!

I'd be all over that; turn on the 360 then start a movie or browse facebook/twitter without even needing a controller - very nice!

 

[gofreak]

Turn on 360 with Natal??? Yes please!

Come to think of it this is probably why it has a seperate power source!

On the other hand...if the voice processing's done on 360, how does that remain 'listening' while the machine's off?

If a certain amount's (like turning on and off) is handled by the camera on its own, then it's a good point about it needing power while the 360 is on standby...but I'm not sure that would necessitate a separate power supply. If it's possible for the 360 to pass power to a connected peripheral while it's on standby...(which may not be the case, but if it were, that'd probably be more desirable from a number of viewpoints).

 

[PSGames]

On the other hand...if the voice processing's done on 360, how does that remain 'listening' while the machine's off?

If a certain amount's (like turning on and off) is handled by the camera on its own, then it's a good point about it needing power while the 360 is on standby...but I'm not sure that would necessitate a separate power supply. If it's possible for the 360 to pass power to a connected peripheral while it's on standby...(which may not be the case, but if it were, that'd probably be more desirable from a number of viewpoints).

The 360 can't power USB devices when powered off.

Here's what I think. I think this power on and off will be optional for Natal (hence the power cord being connected to the USB cord. If you don't care for something like that you'll be able to just have it connected to the 360 with no power cord. If you do want to have a complete no controller experience you can have that option too (by connecting Natal to a power outlet).

 

[JaggedSac]

I think I have charged my ZuneHD on the 360 while it was off. I can verify when I get home.

 

[gofreak]

An independent power supply would make sense then for the 'turning on and off' use-case.

It raises questions about how that's triggered though. Maybe a small bit of voice recognition can be done totally internally to the camera? That would be necessary...outside of a low power or standby mode where the 360 could be tapped for limited processing.

 

[2Good4u]

The 360 can't power USB devices when powered off.

it can

 

[pr0cs]

Thats freaking cool as hell.

If it works like what I've seen with other tracking systems it's very cool.. and very creepy.

IT'S HERE RAY.. AND IT'S... WATCHING ME.

 

[D4Danger]

I think I have charged my ZuneHD on the 360 while it was off. I can verify when I get home.

Just tried it with mine and it seems to work. The little battery icon with a lightning bolt in the middle appeared which apparently means it's charging.

 

[pr0cs]

An independent power supply would make sense then for the 'turning on and off' use-case.

It raises questions about how that's triggered though. Maybe a small bit of voice recognition can be done totally internally to the camera? That would be necessary...outside of a low power or standby mode where the 360 could be tapped for limited processing.

the 360 has several levels of 'off' though.
Off off, low power mode (like when doing active downloads), fan mode (implemented recently where the 360 is cycling fans to cool the system off before 'off off'.
Perhaps they implemented something similar for Natal where the machine is always sort of self aware waiting for input.

 

[PSGames]

Just tried it with mine and it seems to work. The little battery icon with a lightning bolt in the middle appeared which apparently means it's charging.

Oh it can? my mistake then. So perhaps the power cord is necessary regardless. Still cool we should be able to turn on and off our 360s with this

 

[JaggedSac]

the 360 has several levels of 'off' though.
Off off, low power mode (like when doing active downloads), fan mode (implemented recently where the 360 is cycling fans to cool the system off before 'off off'.
Perhaps they implemented something similar for Natal where the machine is always sort of self aware waiting for input.

I was unaware of this. Perhaps low power mode can have some limited voice recognition capabilities.

Just tried it with mine and it seems to work. The little battery icon with a lightning bolt in the middle appeared which apparently means it's charging.

Cool. I thought I had done it before. Thanks.

 

[iceatcs]

Well it is understandable if it need to own power source, I mean it got 3 special cameras, microphone and the mini computer internal.
I dunno USB power is enough for all of these features, but maybe it is only for debug natal.



Why don't they make it more small, less width - You can see how much badly width both after 3 camera lens?

 

[deepbrown]

Question - why don't these damned camera's come with clips for being connected to LCD TVs!? You have to bloody celotape them otherwise. Can't be that hard to come up with something, surely.

 

[iceatcs]

Question - why don't these damned camera's come with clips for being connected to LCD TVs!? You have to bloody celotape them otherwise. Can't be that hard to come up with something, surely.

I think they will make one, but it will going to separate and charge too.

 

[Mad_Ban]

It looks giantic!

 

[Tom Penny]

Question - why don't these damned camera's come with clips for being connected to LCD TVs!? You have to bloody celotape them otherwise. Can't be that hard to come up with something, surely.

Hmm. Patent something. You'll be paid like the the "post it" guy. I never though of that. How the hell do you put that on top of an LCD? Clip sold seperately $19.99...

 

[Dynoro]

Aww; the SDK download requires a sign in (from the the URL in the photos) would've been nice to grab that :lol

 

[D4Danger]

Hmm. Patent something. You'll be paid like the the "post it" guy. I never though of that. How the hell do you put that on top of an LCD? Clip sold seperately $19.99...

I think every webcam sold today have some sort of clip so who knows.

Maybe it's not designed to sit on top of your TV (every demo before those pictures has had it under a TV)

Aww; the SDK download requires a sign in (from the the URL in the photos) would've been nice to grab that :lol

damn their good. What with their passwords and stuff...

 

[Dynoro]

It looks giantic!

Hmm - looked smaller than I imagined. From the face on image say that screen is 32" then the camera would be quite small

damn their good. What with their passwords and stuff...

Damn MS! Spoiling my fun!

 

[Anony]

the 360 has several levels of 'off' though.
Off off, low power mode (like when doing active downloads), fan mode (implemented recently where the 360 is cycling fans to cool the system off before 'off off'.
Perhaps they implemented something similar for Natal where the machine is always sort of self aware waiting for input.

is this the same update where we get the 16gb usb option?

 

[pr0cs]

is this the same update where we get the 16gb usb option?

I don't know if it was an update or an effect with the newer hardware. I just noticed that my Jasper after getting some usage will spin the fans for some time after the hardware is shut down.
This was not the case with previous hardware iterations.
It certainly wouldn't be surprising that the USB update also added some Natal functionality, the update (at least for me) did take a lot longer than I expected on both of my 360s when the amount of new advertised content was pretty small (they only talked about the USB stuff in the patch didn't they).

 

[santi_yo]

NO NO NO, NOT ANOTHER FUCKEN PLUG

power over usb damnit

 

[jagowar]

I'd be all over that; turn on the 360 then start a movie or browse facebook/twitter without even needing a controller - very nice!

They have said this stuff since the first trailer..... the whole "play movie" thing. Voice commands Ive always known were going to play a role in the navigation. Just hope they have commands for all the functions so you can control the dashboard with your voice if you want. (play netflix, open game library, down, up, next, skip forward/backwards, etc). 600 commands can cover quite a bit and there will probably be more as time goes on.

black xbox?

Not just that but a shiny black which is more evidence IMO of a new xbox based on the valhalla board leaked a while back.

 

[Mad_Ban]

Hmm - looked smaller than I imagined. From the face on image say that screen is 32" then the camera would be quite small

Well it looks very deep, which I wasn't expecting. but of course this could change at retail.

 

[Ninja Moomin]

this is really weird.... but the thought of turning on my 360 with natal... and seeing the glossy prototype hardware and made me WANT+5000 for natal.


roll on e3!

 

[santi_yo]

 

[LegendofJoe]

Wow, it looks pretty damn cool. I like that the went with the glossy look, now all I need from MS is a 360 slim and they've got my money in the fall (seriously who isn't going to upgrade when its happens?).

 

[Guy LeDouche]

this is really weird.... but the thought of turning on my 360 with natal... and seeing the glossy prototype hardware and made me WANT+5000 for natal.

You really prefer having to say "Natal, turn on the Xbox360" instead of just pushing the power button (available both on the console and any controller) like we've all done with all electronics since the dawn of time?

Is there really any point, beyond novelty, to change something as simple as a power button? Will gametard forums be filled with assholes complaining they their little brothers are running into the room to shout "Natal, shut off console" while said assholes are trying to get their "Breakout" on?


Nobody can predict the future, but E3 will be a madhouse for sure. I can't see "WANT +5000" for voice-controlled power button.

 

[iceatcs]

Is there really any point, beyond novelty, to change something as simple as a power button? Will gametard forums be filled with assholes complaining they their little brothers are running into the room to shout "Natal, shut off console" while said assholes are trying to get their "Breakout" on?

Oh shit, I have wacked housemate, sometime he cut the main power.
I hope it is option, I'm sure.

 

[JaggedSac]

You really prefer having to say "Natal, turn on the Xbox360" instead of just pushing the power button (available both on the console and any controller) like we've all done with all electronics since the dawn of time?

Is there really any point, beyond novelty, to change something as simple as a power button? Will gametard forums be filled with assholes complaining they their little brothers are running into the room to shout "Natal, shut off console" while said assholes are trying to get their "Breakout" on?


Nobody can predict the future, but E3 will be a madhouse for sure. I can't see "WANT +5000" for voice-controlled power button.

Since there will be games for Natal that are controller free, why not remove all need to pick something up, or touch a button?

And a kid can just as easily run into a room and hit the power button on your console. It is also possible that only the person who is currently logged in can cut the power off via voice.

 

[Chrange]

Since there will be games for Natal that are controller free, why not remove all need to pick something up, or touch a button?

And a kid can just as easily run into a room and hit the power button on your console. It is also possible that only the person who is currently logged in can cut the power off via voice.

 

[Tek]

maybe it will only recognize your voice...like the setup of natal involves you speaking to it so it will know when its you talking....

and maybe it will become self aware and star in the next Transformers movie.

 

[DrXym]

The PS3 can pretend to be in standby for for remote access.

In theory the 360 could do the same, pretending to be in standby, but quietly listening for voice commands (and watching you), all the time burning through the watts. Personally I think if it did this it would be quite creepy.

 

[painey]

a power plug for the camera is lame.. hmm. I guess theres no chance of it not needing an AC plug by the time its released?

 

[D4Danger]

a power plug for the camera is lame.. hmm. I guess theres no chance of it not needing an AC plug by the time its released?

2 cameras, IR, mic and processing. I guess it's just too much power for USB.

 

[pr0cs]

a power plug for the camera is lame.. hmm. I guess theres no chance of it not needing an AC plug by the time its released?

very unlikely if they still plan on keeping the tracking/servos in there. No way there would be enough power from regular USB power to drive something like that.

 

[PhatSaqs]

Every 360 since inception have had a low power mode. This is how controllers were able to continue charging after powering off.

Granted it would fuck up sometimes and not completely charge your shit but yeah its been there.

 

[Ninja Moomin]

You really prefer having to say "Natal, turn on the Xbox360" instead of just pushing the power button (available both on the console and any controller) like we've all done with all electronics since the dawn of time?

Is there really any point, beyond novelty, to change something as simple as a power button? Will gametard forums be filled with assholes complaining they their little brothers are running into the room to shout "Natal, shut off console" while said assholes are trying to get their "Breakout" on?


Nobody can predict the future, but E3 will be a madhouse for sure. I can't see "WANT +5000" for voice-controlled power button.

 

[Mr.Green]

any better?

Hell yeah! Thanks mate!

 

[Anony]

I don't know if it was an update or an effect with the newer hardware. I just noticed that my Jasper after getting some usage will spin the fans for some time after the hardware is shut down.
This was not the case with previous hardware iterations.

wow, that's just stupid, the older hardware are the ones that need this keep fans on after shutdown

also, all the processing is done on the 360, dont see why you'd need external power

 

[Apath]

That camera looks huge.

And there is no fucking way you can go just "NATAL POWER DOWN" and it'll turn off your 360 mid-game.