Photo: Shutterstock
It’s May 2009. I’m at home, and while browsing my favorite game site a video pops up: A3 KINECT announcement commercial.
No controller required, fade in… A boy stands in front of a large flat screen in his living room.
On the screen an Asian kung Fu master challenges the boy to a duel. As the video character on the screen mimics the boys movement through a camera on top of the flat screen TV they fight the kung fu master with swirling kicks while they dodge attacks.
MIND BLOWN! But wait there is more.
The boy has an actual conversation with one of the video characters where the character responds coherently to the boy, a race car is driven while he has his hands in the air like he would be holding a steer. KINECT scans an actual real life object and INTEGRATES it into a game with facial recognition and voice recognition!
“The Only Experience You Need Is Life Experience,” states the dark encouraging male voice.
And the ad fades out.
Wow, I think. I must get KINECT!
This was the very first time that I saw a piece of tech that could elevate my gaming experience in a way like never before. The very first time that I wanted a piece of technology so bad it hurt.
So, I saved money, waited and as soon as it came out – I bought it, ran home and plugged in my game computer.
The first hour was spent while calibrating and the second one to get used to how to scroll through the menu’s without a controller. It felt odd and it felt slow. Instead of actually waving your hand in order to change from a menu to another you still had a cursor. The voice recognition often failed.
While playing a game, my character went down a river in a raft I could jump and he would jump, I could lean left and right and the character would lean left and right. And that was… about it.
But hey, it was cool and exciting anyway because it was new.
I got so bored so quickly – And I was so disappointed.
In the commercial, full interaction possibility was promised with the video game characters, one on one exact movement and a complete integration of the gaming world into your living room.
I played it again the day after with a friend and never played again. My money had been spent and my dreams had been smashed.
I checked out the next two generations of the device, but still it’s nothing as exciting as was promised in the commercial.
Photo: Shutterstock
Now, for the second time in my life I am truly excited about a piece of tech.
That’s because of the HoloLens. Goggles you put on your head that create augmented reality.
The video of a demo looks amazing. You see a man walking in a room with the HoloLens headset on as he projects screens that are 2 by 2 meters on the wall. I want it – And I keep on thinking of all the potential of the device.
But already I’ve heard by reviewers that what you see in the demo is not completely true – that you cannot actually see everything around you like in the demo. I get pissed off again.
Don’t show an unfinished product and pretend like the product is 3 generations ahead.
What’s wrong with just showing the product as it is?
