Why have been people yelling at professional athletes who fumble and fall and anger them when those athletes are on their TVs and can't hear them? Because these people have been getting ready for the Xbox 360's Project Natal.
From an interview with Xbox 360 project manager Marc Whitten, who discusses some non-gaming applications of the sensors in Project Natal, the seeing, hearing, heckling-checking hands-free control device that will be released for Microsoft's game console later this year:
"But Natal isn't just about gaming — it's about all living-room experiences. Imagine a sporting event — Natal could know which team you're for because it sees your jersey, or knows you thought a bad call was made when you yell 'boo.' It learns about you and gets smarter to create a more tailored entertainment experience."
What sort of experience do you think it will tailor if, while watching a WWE match, a let out a Ric Flair "whooooo!" every time a guy does a chop? Not that I ever do that.
Microsoft's Marc Whitten on Xbox 360's Project Natal [Fast Company] [PIC]