The newly unveiled Avatar Kinect purports to be a new way of connecting us via our facial expressions and body gestures. Based on Microsoft’s video, I think it’s actually showing us something else entirely. According to Microsoft, you’ll gain superhuman control of the muscles in your face along with unprecedented amounts of energy:
Yeah, it doesn’t look all that wild, but take a look at the expressions these people make when they speak:
Pretty weird, right? Especially considering the fact that my attempts to make these faces resulted in a lot of muscle strain and discomfort:
Seriously, no one makes that half-smile with arched eyebrows face unless they smell poop. No one. It’s virtually impossible to do when being prompted. Like I said earlier, Avatar Kinect also gives you extra energy so you can flail your arms around during a conversation (’cause everyone does that, right?):
You do that during on Skype video chats, right? I do.
Despite my disdainfully sarcastic view of Avatar Kinect, I think the service will be pretty popular, though not in the ways that Microsoft has intended. Have you used the website Xtranormal? Avatar Kinect will be a way to make Xtranormal YouTube clips quick and on-the-fly, with very little tedious editing. This is where this service will really shine, rather than in Microsoft’s imaginary world where people use Xbox to discuss TV shows and football games.
