PrimeSense fesses up: it's the magic behind Microsoft's Project Natal
By Darren Murph 
posted March 31st 2010 9:00AM
posted March 31st 2010 9:00AM
PRIMESENSE™ SUPPLIES 3D-SENSING TECHNOLOGY TO "PROJECT NATAL" FOR XBOX 360
Ground-Breaking Optical Sensing and Recognition Technologies to Aid Gesture Control Platform
REDMOND, WA and TEL AVIV, ISRAEL (March 31, 2010) – Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq "MSFT") and PrimeSense™, the leader in 3D sensing and recognition technologies, announced today that PrimeSense will be providing its leading-edge 3D-sensing technology for use in "Project Natal" for Xbox 360.
"We've seen tremendous excitement and anticipation for the arrival of 'Project Natal' this holiday," said Ilan Spillinger, vice president of Xbox 360 hardware. "PrimeSense has delivered an important component to the technology, helping us deliver revolutionary controller-free entertainment experiences in the living room."
"PrimeSense's technology enables a paradigm shift in the way people interact with consumer electronic devices. The engagement with Xbox 360 establishes PrimeSense's position as a leading supplier of 3D-sensing technology," said Inon Beracha, chief executive officer, PrimeSense. "We are especially honored to have a partner like Microsoft who shares our vision for bringing innovative and engaging natural experiences to consumers."
"Xbox 360 Hardware Engineering teams developed the 'Project Natal' sensor based on the ™ reference design to support the special requirements of 'Project Natal,'" said Aviad Maizels, president and founder, PrimeSense.
Microsoft recently announced at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas that "Project Natal" will be available during holiday 2010.
About Xbox 360
Xbox 360 is a premier video game and entertainment system. It is home to the best and broadest library of games, a streaming library of thousands of movies and TV shows in 1080p HD, and millions of songs connected to the television. The digital center of the living room, Xbox 360 blends unbeatable content with the largest online social network connected to the television in the 23 million members on Xbox LIVE to create a limitless entertainment experience that can be shared at home or across the globe. With the addition of currently code-named "Project Natal" for Xbox 360, Microsoft will forever transform social gaming and entertainment with a whole new way to play - no controller required. More information about "Project Natal" and Xbox 360 can be found online at http://www.xbox.com/projectnatal and http://www.xbox.com.
About Microsoft
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq "MSFT") is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.
About PrimeSense
PrimeSense is the leader in sensing and recognition technologies enabling consumer devices to "see" environments and allow users to control and interact naturally with those devices in a simple and intuitive way. PrimeSense offers affordable solutions for consumer markets including visual/home computing, interactive entertainment and consumer electronics. PrimeSense products include the PS1080 System on Chip and PrimeSensor reference design, plus cross-platform enabling software to make application development easy and intuitive.
Headquartered in Tel Aviv, Israel, with offices in North America, Japan and Taiwan, PrimeSense is a privately held company. For more information, please visit: www.primesense.com.
I love the reaction on that girl's face.
@LCDBox
OMG it's the China Telecom girl!
@LCDBox
I love this line:
" it's a technology designed in the back stall of a unicorn barn "
I lol'd
@LCDBox
Ginger kids have no soul. -EC
@LCDBox
its because theyre being lightninged by a wizard, obviously. natal has wires you attach for realistic feedback sensation, like shocks.
@LCDBox
I know it's crude but my first reaction was "COCK GOES WHERE?!"
Jesus, I need to spend less time on the internet.
@Darkroom LMAO it look like she is about to suck the light off of that stick!
@LCDBox Pedobear: "DO WANT"
I hope this stays exclusive to the xbox we need it
@Jean Marc
I don't think all of natal is using this technology alone, besides this was stated before(link below). last i check MS had bought an israeli company(3DV) last year and that to me was the foundation of project natal. So i don't see why are people talking as if this is something coming from primesense alone...
here it talks about MS using technology of both companies or else it would have been out already... it's more than meets the eye.
http://www.tgdaily.com/games-and-entertainment-features/42980-microsoft-buys-israeli-company-linked-to-project-natal
"project was a "combination" of partners and native MS software." So i don't see this being replicated to the same level anything soon and being that MS has patents related to the type of technology.
@Jean Marc
Why would it staying exclusive matter? I don't get people who equate "exclusive" with "better". As if the quality of a tool would suddenly diminish if someone else used to too.
Like games...COD4:MW was awesome...on Xbox, PS3 and PC. I played it on the PC and PS3 and loved it. I've got and Xbox now and I'm loving Bad Company 2. I can't imagine it getting better JUST because PC/PS3 gamers aren't playing it.
Please explain it.
@Tes the reson i want it to stay exclusive is because i am a xbox fan ill admit it and i dont want other systems out doing mine lol.
@Jean Marc Just think about being able to superimpose yourself into Porn, bukakake films will never be the same.
Wow theres a shocker MS fancy net tech isn't really MS at all
@damian75
oh c'mon Natal is more than just primesense technology people... stop being fanboys and jump to conclusions... worse of all Engadget are such lazies that they don't check their own past stories before claiming that it's purely base on primesense technology. So don't go thinking that the full extent of Natal will be on other console...
@damian75
Yeah they had an earlier article on the neural net MS trains to recognize human poses.
@damian75
actually it mentions in the article that Microsoft tweaked the technology quite a bit 'to their credit'
for all you know, this company was only bought because it holds the patents for some of the things needed for Natal, and for sure this company appreciated the fact that Microsoft brought them into light.
and anyways, where's your breakthrough original technology. yeah, thats what i thought.
I hope it stays exclusive the 360 but even if it doesn't it's not like it's going to show up on the ps3 anytime soon.
Nor will it be on the Wii. And those are the only gaming systems as far as I know so yeah it will be unique in that sense.
Move is just sony copying the competition...yet again. At least Natal is trying to be something different.
@TheLondonExchange
I'm not a Sony fanboy (nor a fanboy of any of the major gaming system companies), this is just an honest question: When else did Sony copy the competition?
@TheLondonExchange
I am a Sony fanboy, ever heard of eyetoy etc
@mr88 DS Lite > PSP Slim
@TheLondonExchange The sony move has actually prooven itself to be quite good, I hold little faith in project natal. Move's use in Socom 4 looks pretty solid and can imagine it being somewhat decent. Natal on the otherhand has noticable lag and kudo Tsunoda behind it who infamously ruined the Def Jam games Franchise. Also so far we have a few tech demo games - that demographic of gamers are quite happy with their Wii consoles. This years E3 will pretty much dictate the success of natal I believe - if they have the brilliance of 'hey look at my avatars foot' screw up again, they will pretty much doom the product.
@mr88
-Added triggers to their controllers like on the Original Xbox controller
-The entire console industry copied the original Xbox, as all of today's consoles are essentially mini-computers.
-PSN copied Xbox Live (without the fees)
-The original PS3 controller we were all introduced to was to try give tacked-on motion controlling to compete with the Wii
That's about all I can think of at the moment in terms of the PS3. They obviously did make some nice stuff on their own. Like despite the fact they made hard drive a standard in the construction of the console, they do make it completely user replaceable which is quite nice.
@trashpants
I'm not saying natal will be awesome. I also have reservations as to if it will do anything special or make feel like I need to have one.
But I do applaud MS for at least trying to differentiate itself from the Wii and ps3.
sony is incapable of doing that. All they've got is a dildo with nice colorful orbs as the head.
As for Natal's lag I hope they improve on that. I keep telling myself though that it's been a while since I've seen it in action. Hopefully this E3 will reveal a LOT more about it and it's current status.
@mr88
http://i43.tinypic.com/1z5865x.jpg
@TheLondonExchange Hurr durr... copying... sony r copy everybody. Get used to the fact that everyone takes innovations sometimes, where would we be without it? Is every system that uses discs copying the Commodore? No, it just makes sense to use it. Besides, Project Natal isn't that original, Sony had the idea with the eyetoy for ps2, expanded even farther with the playstation eye. Anyone who says their console is the most original and doesn't copy needs to look back through time and see all the innovations from other consoles that they use.
@Prevacator Thanks for the response. I can see how some of those things were copies, but I guess that's what competition and innovation are for (meaning competition should breed innovation; I'm not saying that copying and innovating are the same thing haha).
To the above commenter, I don't really know if I agree with the PSP Slim being a copy of DS Lite. I'm not a big gamer and don't own either of the devices or know much about them, but I don't see any major similarities other than the fact that they are both handheld gaming systems, which many companies have been making for years (Nintendo was first that I know of, but I remember Sega and I'm sure others as well).
@Forphucsake Haha, I liked that, thanks. To be fair though, it's not just Sony who copied a lot of those...like a dpad, joystick, and using wireless technology aren't exactly proprietary. And God, remember how big those rumble packs used to be? Wow.
@Prevacator not to split hairs, but the Xbox controller copied the triggers from the SEGA Dreamcast Controller.
Just sayin', and I second mr88's response that innovation breeds innovation.
@Prevacator
Triggers? You mean the L2/R2 buttons that have been on the PS controller from the start or are you talking about something else. If anything the XBox triggers are a copy of the L2/R2 buttons and don't even get me started on the L3/R3 buttons. Give credit where it's due. Prior to that console controllers only had 1 shoulder button.
@tristamgreen
Totally forgot that the DC controller was the first to have actual triggers.
Again, while the L2/R2 buttons have gotten bigger they still don't look much like triggers to me.
@TheLondonExchange
We have seen nothing yet to say this is not a glorified eye-toy, so until it is leaps and beyonds better because of actually seeing it in action....Microsoft has copied Sony.
No one has seen much beyond the ball hitting game, and games like that are already out for eye-toy. this is a huge failure unless its responsive enough to play a real game with quick movements and no lag.
@jayleigh
No this is very different. Eye toy and Move is very low-tech, its just an off the shelf webcam and 30 year old machine vision tech, color blob tracking. This is a special type of camera with an IR projector that builds a 3D point cloud of a scene plus human joint tracking software.
@mr88
Well Sony's entire entrance into the console market is from copying Nintendo. The original PS was partly designed by Nintendo themselves as it was originally just a Super Nintendo addon.
@Prevacator so the DreamCast didn't have the triggers before the Xbox came out?
sit down somewhere!
MW2 in 3D would be interesting to say the least...
Im a satisfied PS3 owner but if they can make some interesting games using Natal ill be purchasing a 360.
I'll bet that Microsoft is going to try to sell it to PC gamers as well.
Nice Try.
The "magic" behind NATAL isn't the camera. It's the software and logic controlling what the camera sees which is the breakthrough tech.
Why didn't Microsoft just buy them? You would think they would like to keep the Natal tech exclusive.
I have some SHOCKING news for you: An Israeli newspaper has had this knowledge mentioned a few times since June 2009!
"The Marker", which is the high-tech and economy branch of Haaretz, has first mentioned it as "a rumor" in a June 3rd article (here: http://translate.google.com/translate?js=y&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&layout=1&eotf=1&u=http%3A%2F%2Fit.themarker.com%2Ftmit%2Farticle%2F6897&sl=iw&tl=en&swap=1).
Then, 9 days ago, I was amazed to discover that the site has added this as a FACT to my own article from Gadgety (http://translate.google.com/translate?js=y&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&layout=1&eotf=1&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.gadgety.co.il%2F11093%2F&sl=iw&tl=en) about your hands-on with the technology: "At first, when NATAL was revealed at E3, people thought that Israeli start-up 3DV are the ones behind it. Now we can tell you that Microsoft acquired 3DV to prevent the technology from ending-up in Sony's hands, while their own product is driven by PrimeSense's chip". (full Google Translation: http://translate.google.com/translate?js=y&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&layout=1&eotf=1&u=http%3A%2F%2Fit.themarker.com%2Ftmit%2Farticle%2F10122&sl=iw&tl=en) Needless to say, This was their own Intel added to my post. I had no idea, but it seems like The Marker have interviewed PS's CEO Inon Brakha several times.
I just want to control my windows media center with nataltype technology.. swipe trough the movies, and quickly scroll forward and backward ala minority report.. etc..
natal for gaming, no thanks. but for media center, hell yes!
@davepermen
You mean Coverflow?
LMFAOOOOOOOOOOO!
@davepermen
Yeah, you know what I like doing when I get home from a hard days work and want to relax? Waving my arms around like some lunatic because it's somehow "better" than if I moved just my thumb on a remote.
People rarely think through the logical reason for an innovation. "Ooh, I saw it in a movie!" isn't really the compelling reason to change things as you think. It may look cool, but is it practical? Can you get the precision waving your arm as you would hitting a button? Trying to fast forward with your hand seems tedious and ridiculous.
@Tes this is the reason i don't care about natal for gaming. but the trick is, i only control very few times my media center, and then, grabbing the remote and adjust the fingers to find the button and press it is actually more work than just a quick swipe, yes. so it would be less energy consuming and more efficient.
and searching for a specific scene in a movie could be much more fluent and accurate than with buttons.
and yes, i actually experienced interfaces similar to that, and they ARE great for home entertainment systems. especially for those who don't have their remote in the hand the whole evening, like me.
@davepermen
Which systems have you used with this sort of interface and why do you not then own such a system?
@Tes selfprogrammed stuff based on (originally) the idea of using a wiimote as a remote control for the tv.
but why i say i hope microsoft integrates it into media center is, so it would be available to the masses. if i write something like this, maybe some would buy it, maybe it would be on engadget and some more would buy it. but if microsoft would do it, we could all have it for free (except the hw), and people all over the world would know it. and it would make microsoft look quite cool for home entertainment.
that's why.
but let's see if natal can be plugged into a pc as well (just as the xbox 360 controllers, which i use for wireless full-hd gaming of old game-emulators in the media center), and if we can put it to use easily then. if so, i'll sure write a "controller". and with some chance, not just for me but everyone.
the other thing about microsoft integrating it directly: they could redesign the whole mediacenter ui to add more usability trough gestures to it, than i could if i'd just extend the existing. no detailed idea on what that means, though :)
anyways, can't wait till it's out. i still don't have an xbox, but i love xna, the controllers, and if natal can be plugged into a pc, i'll sure get it, too. just for the development fun :)
amazing timing post Sony revealing all on the last Engadget show!!!
ooooo the PR machine!
It sounds like a technology which should be used for anything, other than button-less gaming.
So far, the games demoed on Natal involved the player remaining in his same spot throughout the entire game (racing, catching balls, first person fighting....) Without buttons, how would you play a game like GOW? That's where PS3's "Moves" won me over...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wZxupr5ZsvY
@TareG
Some people mention they wouldn't mind holding their existing controller while using Natal. I know I would. It's not like the Xbox 360 controller is the smallest and lightest around.
What this means to me?
Annoying pop ups and crappy information on my tv... how about letting me just watch a movie?
Seriously, this better be good tech cause even on touch screen enable devices its hardly that accurate either...