Bill Gates: Natal for Windows coming to an office near you

The idea of bending over to pick up a virtual tennis racket in front of that 50-inch flat screen in our living room makes perfect sense to us. In fact, we can't wait to see Natal come to the Xbox platform. However, the idea of manipulating an excel spreadsheet on a 15-inch screen within a 5 x 5-foot cubicle sounds daunting, to say the least. Fortunately, Microsoft's plans to integrate Natal into corporate Windows environments appears rather sober, albeit, entirely lacking in specifics. In an interview with CNET news, Bill Gates says that Natal's depth-sensing camera won't be limited to gaming use, "but for media consumption as a whole, and even if they connect it up to Windows PCs for interacting in terms of meetings, and collaboration, and communication." Without going into detail, the Microsoft Chairman adds that use of the technology in the office, "is getting much more concrete, and is pretty exciting." In fact, Bill sees it delivering "incredible value" when used within cubicle farms. Perhaps. We certainly won't argue the value of Natal for gaming or even manipulating content in a home theater setup like we've seen with Toshiba's Spatial Motion Interface, but for the office, incredible value... really?

[AJ in the East Bay @ Jul 15th 2009 5:03AM]

Zzzzzzzzzzz....zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz....time to sleep.

[fieldcar @ Jul 15th 2009 10:55AM]

Heh, not if a natal is at your desk... WAKEUP!

Honestly though, it will be useful for a few things that come to my mind.
-presentations and meetings
-facial recognition security (can tell the difference between you and a photo of you due to 3d info)
-3d modeling manipulation and viewing (why I'm all perky about this tech) imagine reaching out and interacting with a solidworks/autodesk inventor model.
-minority report style computing (however useful is really up to software devs)

Lemme guess, if this had a half eaten apple on it, you'd be creaming yourself, and praising allah jobs.

[andymac @ Jul 15th 2009 5:05AM]

has anyone seen my stapler?

[Cody @ Jul 15th 2009 5:49AM]

Oh...sorry. I sorta borrowed it and lost it.

[Maeztro @ Jul 15th 2009 7:40AM]

Yeah...ummm...I'm going need those TPS reports...

[arash @ Jul 15th 2009 12:04PM]

i did not receive my cheque for last 4 week

[mex @ Jul 15th 2009 12:41PM]

the RED stepler!

[schmitty338 @ Jul 15th 2009 1:16PM]

...this could go on for a while...

[david @ Jul 15th 2009 5:07AM]

I thought he had nothing to do with Microsoft any more. How does he know this?

[Will @ Jul 15th 2009 5:13AM]

I'm sure he still gets the occasional memo.

[Ike Turner @ Jul 15th 2009 5:49AM]

Last time I checked he is still Microsoft's Chairman and hits up MS' campus once a week.

[Cody @ Jul 15th 2009 5:43AM]

He's still the chairman...isn't he?

[sockatume @ Jul 15th 2009 5:18AM]

It's not exactly a stretch of the imagination to picture this being used to control presentations or video conferences.

[darkstar @ Jul 15th 2009 7:56AM]

like in Minority Report???
exactly!

[AnnoyingPoster @ Jul 15th 2009 9:02AM]

Exactly, Thomas Ricker is brain dead. Leave it to an apple fanboy to have zero creativity and not comprehend what this could possibly be used for just because your precious fruit named company didnt think of it.

[Thiago @ Jul 15th 2009 6:39AM]

It may seem awkward for office usage, but for media manipulation it sounds promising. Minority Report like promising!

[oGMo @ Jul 15th 2009 5:26AM]

You mean they think someone still cares about that complete smoke-and-mirrors demo?

[Cody @ Jul 15th 2009 5:48AM]

How was it a smoke and mirrors demo when Engadget tried it out themselves and said it worked? BTW People do care. :)

[Einhanderkiller @ Jul 15th 2009 10:53AM]

The Milo thing was fake. The other stuff was real.

[Caveman @ Jul 18th 2009 9:41PM]

Dude, you're such a troll.

[mrD @ Jul 15th 2009 5:27AM]

i for one welcome it i dont use a 15inch tft on my pc,i use a tri-multi monitor 22inch setup in a big room,BUT i plan to add a extra screen 30 + inch for natal use ,and use the old screens for direct input ,mouse and keyboard

[10minutehobo @ Jul 15th 2009 11:17AM]

overlord

[MS&GoogleFan @ Jul 15th 2009 5:28AM]

I'm pretty sure we can expect some sort of Powerpoint '10 integration at a later date

[victorvalkov @ Jul 15th 2009 10:35AM]

Define "no one", please. Cuz most people DO like the idea.

[victorvalkov @ Jul 15th 2009 10:36AM]

Oh sorry meant to reply to the below post.

[Torkel @ Jul 15th 2009 5:38AM]

No one likes NATAL...

[Cody @ Jul 15th 2009 5:45AM]

I beg to differ. I for one am looking for to Natal. Saying "no one" likes it is a lie since that would include me. Take your fanboyism (is this a word) somewhere else please.

[Maeztro @ Jul 15th 2009 7:41AM]

Paul?

[10minutehobo @ Jul 15th 2009 11:22AM]

It's only innovation if Apple does it, amirite?

[GeorgeB @ Jul 15th 2009 5:41AM]

Is anyone surprised that this is coming to windows??? Microsoft is not going to NATAL, an exclusive to Xbox......

[luzzio @ Jul 15th 2009 5:41AM]

Natal on spreadsheets? One trip... boom!

[Ethan @ Jul 15th 2009 6:11AM]

How about an open gesture API that can take input from cameras, accelerometers, ir cams, tablets, etc? That would probably get used more.

[Dummy00001 @ Jul 15th 2009 7:29AM]

I believe WiiMote already has one.

The problem is to allow programs to specify some patterns for Natal libraries to recognize.

With WiiMote it is kind'a simple - motions are can be described directionally. With Natal - since it uses a camera - it is going to be much more complicated.

[NeoJew @ Jul 15th 2009 8:01AM]

I'd love to see a plug-in or what ever so I can use this in my favorite media players.
Imagine NATAL watching you watching a movie, then NATAL see that you're getting up to take a piss, so it pauses the movie.
The only problem with that is that it wouldn't be able to tell when you're gonna go take a piss or just a couple steps to get another beer, but I still like the concept.

[AnnoyingPoster @ Jul 15th 2009 9:07AM]

bingo. this is what they already released to Xbox devs for the 360, and are probably finalizing for Windows 7 / DirectX 11 (and probably the next .NET / Visual Studio) which comes out in the Fall.

Translation: Windows programmers will be able to integrate camera based gestures into any program, from browsers to media players and even Games for Windows.

Cant wait to play with this.

[Johnny K @ Jul 15th 2009 10:49AM]

Well, it's not just *any* camera, it's gotta be this specialized hardware, with stereoscopic vision and depth sensor. But yeah, API pls.

[Andreas @ Jul 15th 2009 6:23AM]

This picture is from a movie... hehe :D

[Mizzike @ Jul 15th 2009 9:05AM]

Have you seen microsoft surface? I suppose not. It can handle MANNNYY MANNY touches at once.
And about this natal office thing, go watch quantum of solace.. its not to hard to see where this is going

[Jordan Biffle @ Jul 15th 2009 6:39AM]

How is Microsoft goin gto utilize Natal into Windows when they have yet to straighten out Multitouch?

[Ike Turner @ Jul 15th 2009 6:49AM]

You = fail@live

[Jordan Biffle @ Jul 15th 2009 6:56AM]

@Ike Turner

You = fail@spelling.

[Pontro! @ Jul 15th 2009 6:44AM]

Love Gates, Hate Ballmer.

[Ed T @ Jul 15th 2009 9:59AM]

Yeah, Gates knows real innovation and focuses like a laser beam. SPOT watch anyone?

[Decoy @ Jul 17th 2009 11:37PM]

@ Ed.

What was that one product, oh... Windows? How did that do out in the marketplace?

[Vicada @ Jul 15th 2009 6:55AM]

Imagine everyone at the office jumping around in their cubicles... "Did I send you that memo yet? -No! Okay, I'll wave HARDER" *breaks into sweat*

[Robert @ Jul 15th 2009 6:56AM]

I can totally see this working. As a graphics/web ui developer I could get a lot use out of this.

[L @ Jul 15th 2009 7:12AM]

Try credit the picture source next time.

[WhenYouDie @ Jul 15th 2009 7:18AM]

I don't know why engadget thinks this is a bad idea...

Think minority report... especially with the grown 3d displays are having.

It's like gesture controls the ipod and the pre have. just wave your arm to close a window. move your arm up and down to scroll on a webpage... etc.

[Dummy00001 @ Jul 15th 2009 7:34AM]

> Think minority report... especially with the grown 3d displays are having.

And now think of minority report thing, with 30" 3D display in standard 5 by 6 feet cubicle. See the point?

It's not small as e.g. a red stapler - all the stuff requires a lot space which is generally not available in the office space.

[Aaron @ Jul 15th 2009 1:15PM]

@ Dummy - i see what you did there :-)