Xbox 360 at E3 2009

“Today with cultural visionaries at our side and controller-free gaming on our horizon, Xbox 360 authored a new page in home entertainment history,” said Don Mattrick, senior vice president for the Interactive Entertainment Business at Microsoft. “For us, this E3 is about breaking down barriers — between generations, between games and entertainment, and most important, between video game players and everyone else — in a way that only Xbox 360 can.”

Microsoft continues to surprise and reward everyone who took the wise decision of buying the Xbox 360. Many new ideas and creations were unveiled but the most phenomenal would be Project Natal. As described by Microsoft, Project Natal is "a revolutionary new way to play: no controller required".

There are many uses of this device, like instant face recognition which logs you into Xbox Live, a microphone with a rather good voice recognition and understands emotions, and a three dimensional camera allowing rather cool models and understands gestures and objects.

This is in no way a rip-off of the Playstation Eyetoy or the Xbox 360 trying to get motion control like the Wii. To understand what I'm saying, watch the video below of painting with the Natal sensor. But the real video you have to watch is the one below that, an interaction between reality and the virtual world that "even science fiction hasn't thought off yet".

Meet Microsoft Surface

Imagine a table, that was your computer. You could place objects on the table, like your camera or your mobile phone, and you could interact with them with your finger.

Once you put a camera onto the table, its screen would show you the photos on the camera. With these photos 'on the table', you could make a photo bigger or smaller, manipulate these photos, or - if you had another device on the table - you could drag the photo to the other device and it will be sent to that device.

You could have a large surface on your wall, which you could use to view graphs or chart, and manipulate them at the same time. Not just would one finger drag something around, but two fingers would let you make it bigger or smaller.

Your dream has come true.

Microsoft Surface, is a forthcoming Multi-touch product from Microsoft which is developed as a software and hardware combination technology that allows a user, or multiple users, to manipulate digital content by the use of natural motions, hand gestures, or physical objects.

It was announced on May 29, 2007 at D5 conference, and is expected to be released by commercial partners in spring 2008. Initial customers will be in the hospitality businesses, such as restaurants, hotels, retail, and public entertainment venues.

The posibilities for Microsoft Surface are endless, from interactive living room table, to your bedroom changing wallpaper. Although this computer will find a place in homes eventually, but with its $10,000 price, Microsoft aims to sell it to places such as casinos, hotels & restraunts.

And to learn even more about this great new invention, I highly recommend you watch this video from Popular Mechanics while they test all the aspects of Microsoft Surface, as well as talk to the guys behind the idea.

The new future, with Microsoft Surface.