On Tuesday Microsoft announced that it will be bringing interactive ads to the Xbox360 system via the voice-and gesture-recognizing features of Kinect controllers.
According to AFP, the US technology giant revealed “NUads” (pronounced like gnads) technology that it claims will be the future of television advertising.
“I believe that the Kinect platform, and NUads, will unlock the incredible potential of interactive TV, and interactive TV advertising,” Microsoft advertising business group general manager Mark Kroese said in a blog post.
Microsoft has been increasing the amount of film and television show content that it has on its Internet connected Xbox Live service.
Kinect controllers give people the ability to tell a console to post a video ad in a Twitter update or ask it to give them more information about a product.
Viewers can use the waving of their hands to share their opinions in poll or send content to themselves by email.
“Simply put, NUads break down the barriers between consumers and content on the TV screen,” Kroese said.
“NUads make traditional linear content — like a 30-second TV spot — irresistibly interactive,” he continued.
In early June Microsoft added YouTube, voice commands and television shows to Xbox 360 with Kinect as the big seller of a videogame console transforms into an entertainment center for everyone.
Microsoft increased the voice capabilities in Kinect to allow Xbox users to give commands to in-game characters and also to speak Bing searches for games, movies, television shows, music and other entertainment.
More than 10 million of the gesture-sensing Kinect accessories for the Xbox 360 have been sold since November.
Kinect uses a 3D camera and motion sensing software to allow people to play video games on the Xbox 360 using body movements and voice commands instead of “old school” hand-held controllers.
Mircosoft has hopes that Kinect will move from the living room and into medical centers, schools and other places where the technology to track skeletal movement and understand voices might be useful.
Remember the crazy 3D interactive computer systems in movies like Minority Report and Iron Man? It appears that the technology for computer systems operated by physical movement in 3D and voice is slowly coming together.
