Microsoft’s Marc Whitten on Xbox 360’s Project Natal

Marc Whitten
General Manager, Xbox 360, Microsoft
Redmond, Washington

Whitten, 39, heads Microsoft’s effort to revolutionize the home-entertainment experience with Project Natal, which tracks your every move.

“If you counted the number of buttons in your living room, it would send a chill down your spine. A lot of people can play games amazingly well, but others feel locked out if games involve a bunch of triggers and buttons. Natal solves that by using 3-D sensors and cameras that let you be the controller. If you want to do the spin-kick serve, no programmer has to implement the spin-kick-serve button. You just do it, and it works.

But Natal isn’t just about gaming — it’s about all living-room experiences. Imagine a sporting event — Natal could know which team you’re for because it sees your jersey, or knows you thought a bad call was made when you yell ‘boo.’ It learns about you and gets smarter to create a more tailored entertainment experience.”