Microsoft To Introduce Avatar Kinect

“Bring your avatar to life.”

That is Microsoft’s catch phrase for their new Kinect venture which debuts this spring. So what is it? From the looks of it, it is a new way to control you avatar using the Kinect sensor. They have now given the sensor the ability to pick up facial expressions, as well as fine-tuned its movement readings. There is also a new way to hang out with your friends via Xbox Live. Avatar Kinect lets you invite up to seven friends into one of fifteen cyber environments to have conversations or perform on a virtual stage, while being able to see their real time facial expressions. Another feature is to “be a star,” where you basically host your own talk show. You record it with the “producer’s editorial eye” which follows your face, zooms, and pans like a real TV show. Along with hanging out and hosting a talk show, you can perform songs or standup comedy, record it all, and post it to Facebook. It should be an interesting Kinect feature, not to mention it’s free to all Xbox live gold members.