Kinect 'can serve as biometric controller' on Xbox One

August 14th, 2013, 01:13 Posted By: wraggster

An executive who manages the controller design team at Microsoft has suggested that biometric sensors would not be necessary on Xbox One because the new version of Kinect can fulfil that role.
Xbox Accessories general manager Zulfi Alam told CVG that Kinect can serve as its own biometric sensor - a claim that, if true, could pave the way for completely new gameplay experiences on Xbox One.
Biometrics has become a new line of inquiry for platform vendors. The theory is that sensors on controller pads could potentially read the player's state - either through heart rate or skin conductance - and thus tailor-fit gameplay in real-time.
Sony initially built a PS4 controller with biometric strips on the prongs, but eventually scrapped those plans for reasons unknown. In January, Valve company president Gabe Newell suggested that the upcoming Steam Box console would feature similar technology.
"I think you'll see controllers coming from us that use a lot of biometric data," Newell said at the time.
But Microsoft is not considering such controller add-ons because, Alam says, the Xbox One will already come bundled with technology capable of reading player states.
"We already have the ability to know what your emotion and heart-rate is, and that's through the Kinect camera," Alam said in a interview with CVG.

"Adding biometric sensors would drain battery life, and we've already got it via Kinect, so why do it?"

http://www.computerandvideogames.com...r-on-xbox-one/

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