With the “motion control” feature for the gaming consoles on the verge of becoming an increasingly ‘hot’ trend in the near future, Microsoft’s ‘Kinect’ controller marks a notable deviation from rival products – Nintendo’s Wii and Sony’s Move – in the sense that it, rather than being a motion-controlling device per se, allows the gamers to virtually be the controllers.

Essentially a bar-like peripheral, the Microsoft Kinect – which is pronounced as ‘Connect’; and is scheduled to hit the markets November 4 – monitors the movements of the gamers in front of the television.

While the body language and facial recognition of the gamers is monitored via the built-in cameras and 3D depth sensors of the device; the audio is captured by a multi-array microphone. The device also responds to the gamers’ voice instructions to start, pause or stop a film.

The cameras and sensors of the conceptually impressive Kinect - which was unveiled and demonstrated on stage during the Xbox press event at the E3 show – are, in fact, so smart that they can gauge by a person’s willingness to join a game by monitoring his body language.

In addition, there have been reports revealing that the Kinect – the price of which still remains undisclosed – also allows gamers to interact with digital content too; as well as place a video call with a family member in another city and then start watching a film together.