When computers become our friends

This week I became aware of what could quite possibly be the most exciting thing to happen to home entertainment and who knows what else – Project Natal.

Project Natal is the code name for the latest innovation from Microsoft for the Xbox. By using a 3D camera, it can sense the player’s movement, completely removing the need for a controller. The player uses their entire body to control the game without touching a single piece of hardware. And the scary bit is, it comes out this christmas.

Invisible controllers is science fiction, but they don’t stop there. The Xbox peripheral also incorporates full face and voice recognition meaning it can instantly recognise a player and sign them in. It remembers everything it’s learned about you, and even calls you by your name.

In the demos that Microsoft have made available, the technology enabled the player to interact with a virtual character which not only understood the player’s speech but also body language to determine the tone in which to speak back. Other demos included fighting with virtual characters and hitting virtual balls in space. All very impressive, but surely only the tip of the iceberg of what this thing can do.

If this the state of technology today, then I start to get very excited. Can you imagine the possibilities for branding, websites, retail displays, kiosks – the list goes on.

Imagine shopping online in front of your Xbox. You would be walking around a 3D virtual store, trying stuff on without entering a fitting room. You could walk the aisles of the supermarket, looking at the labels of items as you pick them up. After payment at the virtual checkout, you sit back and wait for the goods to arrive.

When you enter a website, there will be avatars who represent the company who can answer any questions you might have, even take you for a virtual tour around their offices anywhere in the world. Even give you a personalised presentation while you’re there.

Imagine what Google could become. Google will get to know you, the things you’ve looked at, movies you’ve watched and the things that you’re interested in. It will therefore be able to put context around what you’re searching for, eliminating millions of irrelevant results.

Information kiosks, especially in tourist areas, could offer a character who knows everything you ned to know, in multiple languages. A virtual, branded character could entertain the kids while the parents eat in peace.

Brands could invite you into their world. Imagine branded, virtual environments where kids and adults alike can delight in a truly immersive branded environment where the brand controls every element of the experience. This could take the form of a website or even the in-store experience itself where you order from virtual characters who recognise you from last time, remember your favorite order, and the fact that you don’t like gherkins.

Maybe I’m getting a little excited, but it seems that with technologies like Natal and the influx of touch technologies such as iPhones and iPad, there has been a paradigm shift in how we interact with computers. The input device is becoming more and more invisible. The interaction between the human and the machine are blurring. We no longer need to learn how to use machines – they learn us instead.

As computer systems become more tuned to our emotions and needs, they can better understand us and we will open up to them. When they can understand us on an emotional level, then the world gets pretty scary. Brands can actually connect with us on a truly emotional level – even become our friends. When they can get under our skin, then they can effect us on a, dare I say it, human level. Pretty exciting for branding potential.

Love the idea or hate it, it’s coming. As designers, we can choose to embrace it or turn our heads. And, just like the internet revolution, those who embrace it will find new exciting and relevant ways to communicate with their audiences, while those who don’t will be left behind in the dust.

I say embrace it.