Microsoft's Natal Needs 4 Meters/13 Feet of Space

[JMcEntegart]

Microsoft has revealed that those of you hoping to purchase the company's motion-sensing Natal peripheral will need 13 feet, or four meters, of space to play.

Microsoft's Natal Needs 4 Meters/13 Feet of Space : Read more

 

[Guest]

Considering I live in Ireland, I'll just play it outside in the rain.

 

[Tweedledum]

I might be able to play it if I move my TV to the back wall and stand in the conservatory. If my neighbours looked outside they would wonder what the hell I was doing though!

 

[Clintonio]

I'm still going to pronounce it like my belly area. Nate-all.

 

[waxdart]

[citation][nom]dribblesbarbax[/nom]Considering I live in Ireland, I'll just play it outside in the rain.[/citation]

Considering I live in England, I'll just play it outside in the drizzle.

 

[JMcEntegart]

[citation][nom]Anonymous[/nom]Considering I live in Ireland, I'll just play it outside in the rain.[/citation]

It's pissing rain as we speak/type. Sigh.

 

[Guest]

Considering I live in Ireland I'll just go out for a pint

 

[matt_b]

13 feet is no big deal for something like this. Considering how physically involving something like this is, I'd rather not be that close to an expensive entertainment setup (not the Xbox) - flying WiiMotes anyone?

 

[tstebbens]

I have this much space but I've got a large and annoying light fixture in the middle with glass panels on it (rented house so can't get rid of it.) I've already broken one glass panel with a Wii remote during a drunken game of bowling and cracked my head on the pointy bit on the bottom too many times to recall (even if my memory still worked after all the brain damage the thing has induced!)

I'm pretty sure those dimensions will be the limit of the sensor range, not the required minimum anyway.

Is it technically correct to say "4m of space" considering a metre is a 1 dimensional measurement? "Space" implies area at least, if not a full 3D volume.

 

[Guest]

What the hell is rain? It hasn't rained here for 3 months. Send us poor Aussies some of your drizzle will ya?

 

[Zenthar]

I think this might be a deal breaker for many people, including me. The way my living room is set, I have 12-13 feet, from wall to wall, not counting the couch or the fact that my TV is ~1 ft. from the wall, so I got only ~8 ft. left.

Also, considering the "optimal HDTV viewing distance", you would need at least a 55" TV ... I doubt they considered that. Couldn't they just shorten the distance using 2 cameras?

 

[zak_mckraken]

Considering I live in Canada, I would have the space to play it if I bought it, which I probably won't, eh.

 

[JMcEntegart]

[citation][nom]ozyjoebugner[/nom]What the hell is rain? It hasn't rained here for 3 months. Send us poor Aussies some of your drizzle will ya?[/citation]

On Sunday, I went for a run thinking the rain would stop at some stage. An hour later, I was still running, it was still raining and I couldn't hear my audiobook because the wind was too loud. You don't want any of our weather, trust me.

 

[schwizer]

I can't say for sure, but it sounds from the article like the 13 feet is the maximum distance of objects that are interpreted by the natal sensor. Although this conflicts with the "[atleast] 13 feet" bit of the article, it's possible techflash simply misinterpreted Microsoft's specs. From the nature of the technology i don't really a reason why a person 2m from the TV can't be interpreted just as well as someone 4m away.

but that's just me reverse engineering what appears to make sense.

 

[rdwestgate]

Think about dorm rooms.... I see this being a big killer for the young adult market.

 

[TemjinGold]

There goes 99% of the Japanese market...

 

[alchemy69]

Ask yourself "Do I really need that wall. I mean, aside from holding up that house, what does it really do?"

 

[banthracis]

[citation][nom]rdwestgate[/nom]Think about dorm rooms.... I see this being a big killer for the young adult market.[/citation]

Actually, it's perfect for college. Just set it up in the common room and invite the floor. Those that don't have large houses or common rooms though, yea... Remember though, MS is a US company and here in the states land outside the big cities is dirt cheap.

 

[husker]

[citation][nom]schwizer[/nom]I can't say for sure, but it sounds from the article like the 13 feet is the maximum distance of objects that are interpreted by the natal sensor.[/citation]

My thoughts exactly. The quoted blurb could be easily taken out of context. They could have been describing how to get the maximum benefit, not the minimum, as in: you need to clear at least 13 feet to get the maximum area for motion detection. I mean, really, how could a camera detect you 15 feet away, but not 10 or 5 feet away. Besides the concept demos we've seen of it working clearly show it working at very close range.

 

[eklipz330]

forget the move and the natal...

...gimme that 3DS though