One-time Gizmodo guest-blogger Bill Gates was on NBC's Meet The Press on Sunday to discuss the good works of his and his wife's foundation. His one comment about the future of computers sounded Natal-y.
So after 20 or so minutes of very positive talk about the work of the Gates Foundation to cure disease and help the needy, is Gates' response to Meet The Press host David Gregory about where computers might be heading.
Remember, Microsoft's Project Natal is an Xbox 360-oriented device that uses advanced cameras, sensors and a microphone to detect users' gestures, facial expressions, voice and even the color of their clothing.
Here's Gates:
Bill Gates, founder, Microsoft: We'll also have computers we can talk to, computers that can see what we're doing. So whether it's making a gesture in a business meeting to zoom in on a chart or try and look at what a house would be like before it's built, this idea of the computer seeing 3D displays and voice interaction leads you to where the keyboard and the mouse, which is how we think of the computer today, is not the only way we interact. It's a far more immersive, rich environment....
David Gregory, host, Meet the Press: We can talk to each other?
Gates: Absolutely. You'll be able to put onto the wall of your office a video conference with whoever you'd like and have the computer listen to what's going on there and create a transcript and make it searchable. And so, natural interface, I think is the thing that people underestimate right now.
Yes, this is also a very Minority Report-ish future. And a Gamer: The Movie-esqe future. But that stuff is fake. Natal is real and could do some of what Gates is talking about.
Meet The Press 11/29/09 Episode