Kinect has been given its own biography of sorts, which chronicles the very beginnings of the idea for the tech and onward to its impending release.
The biographers are Wired, and you can read the lengthy tome in full through the link there.
Apparently, it all started in the long-long ago back in the before time of 2007 with VP Don Mattrick, project lead Alex Kipman, and creative head Kudo Tsunoda wanting to counter Wii with some sweet burgeoning tech from PrimeSense, and the programming prowess of Andrew Blake and Jamie Shotton.
Matt Barlow, marketing boss for Xbox 360 and Xbox Live, explained to Wired that Kinect is a massive business opportunity for Microsoft, in more than just gaming.
“Gaming is a $48 billion business”, said Barlow. “The challenge is how you continue to grow. We have the capability to turn your living room into a petting zoo, into a sports stadium — so our customer base is all those who have rejected gaming either because of the content or the controller. If you could say doubling, tripling, quadrupling the audience — I believe that. We’re also talking about a hypersocial audience, predominantly female, who want to interact while playing.”
Other executives told Wired the potential is there for more than just gaming, something Microsoft has been well aware of from the beginning.
“We believe the platform will move beyond the console,” says Ben Kilgore, general manager of the Xbox platform. “Every kind of major Microsoft group in the company is evaluating Kinect. They’re trying to understand what it means for those experiences.”
Work on Project Natal/Kinect was started in 2008, and the motion sensing camera will be in homes this holiday season.
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