As well as reeling off some impressive sales figures, talking about processors and walking us through Windows Phone 7 yet again, Steve Ballmer also officially announced Avatar Kinect at his CES keynote today.
Ballmer demoed some of the features of Avatar Kinect using his own Ballmer avatar. Avatar Kinect means that Kinect can now track your facial expressions, from the way you laugh to the the way your mouth moves, and even something as slight as an eyebrow raise. You do it, your Kinect Avatar mirrors it.
Microsoft were vague about how we’ll be using Avatar Kinect, but seem to foresee online conversations on Microsoft Kinect “stages”, where you can gather your avatars in a room and have a discussion. Imagine something that means you never have to leave the sofa and come into contact with a real human being, or even press a button again – that’s what Avatar Kinect can do.
That’s being harsh on Avatar Kinect though: it will open up the possibility to have a more interactive group discussion with people you couldn’t sit in a room with otherwise. On the one hand there’s room for digital larks to be played vicariously through your Avatar and on the other more serious side of things, the added actions increase demand (rather than reducing demand) on your social skills. At the moment if we chat online we do it largely without expressions or gestures. Avatar Kinect means that all the subtleties of a real life exchange will matter in our interaction with others.
In terms of when we can expect to see Avatar Kinect, Ballmer promise dthat it would be rolling out in the spring, and would be free for Xbox Live Gold members.
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