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Chasing down the heels of the Wii’s motion capture technology, Microsoft are hoping to take this one better with Xbox 360 Project Natal. Revealed at last year’s E3 conference, this add-on accessory for the Xbox 360 is alleged to permit utterly controller-free play with games, sensing movement and translating that as commands within the title.

Xbox 360 Project Natal is said to be released round the Q4 of 2010, and Microsoft are hoping that the accessory will become an essential component of all existing Xbox consoles. They also say this revolutionary technology will lengthen the lifespan of the 360 considerably, and is, for all intents and purposes, a next-gen piece of hardware.

The accessory includes a depth sensor coupled with an RGB camera, which hands the Xbox 360 Project Natal a 360 degree arc of interpretation. The recognition is so accurate that even slight facial nuances can be recognised and converted on-screen. The depth of recognition can also be lengthened or reduced as the gamer sees fit, with the possibility of including surrounding objects like tables or cupboards.

Aswell as movement, the Xbox 360 Project Natal also has the facility to interpret audio. The multi-array microphone within can be employed to recognise audio and convert vocal recognition on screen. These features blend to provide total interactivity between gamer and game.

As the technology used to form both Natal and the games it will interact with is reasonably unique, Microsoft have said that current Xbox 360 games likely won’t support the hardware, and that a brand new set of games are currently underway. Various technical demos shown at E3 saw Space Invaders Extreme and Paint Party, a title in which pots of paint are controlled by the gamer to paint canvasses.

Winter will tell as to if theXbox 360 Project Natal will cause the awe Microsoft are wanting. While the specs are clearly revolutionary and set to trump even the Wii’s signature card, Microsoft should announce more interesting games to gain increased customer interest. With the right games coupled with it, theXbox 360 Project Natal might really be the way forward for gaming!