Sitting down and watching a movie has hardly been the most strenuous activity on the planet, but it seems as though users of the Xbox 360 will soon be able to change that with the new plan to intergrate Xbox Kinect (a motion sensor-based gaming addition) with the Xbox version of Netflix (online movie rental) to add a little exerting to your home cinematic experience.

Microsoft’s latest update for its Xbox 360 games console sees the online Netflix option become ‘Kinect-compatiable’, as promised earlier this year. It means that when the user next loads the Netflix page, an automatic update will occur.

This Netflix-Kinect joint update allows a user to browse the avaliable movie database via the famed Kinect ‘drag movement’, with selecting, playing, pausing, and fast-forward/rewinding all done through pre-explained hand movements, although this could be an easy feature to make a mistake on given the Kinect system’s sensitivities.

An approach that could be seen to be implemented elswhere in the future of TV and film could be voice-recognition technology. This is opened by the user simply saying ‘Xbox’ out loud to then be followed by a recognised command. This means that ‘Xbox, Pause’ could be amongst the popular commands with film audiences of the future, although system sensitvity (or lack of it) could end up being a dent in the mainstream hopes of the technology if it is not addressed.

While the gimmick may be enough to carry the Kinect’s move controls into a niche market, will the ‘human remote control’ ever replace the classic and reliable style? Seeing and suffering (even more than usual) from people walking in front of the screen would suggest otherwise on that point, and viewers may want to stay completly still when watching a film for fear of making a ‘wrong movement’, but it does at least display a good innovation in motion-sensor technology.

Crazy Matt Cazzy into all things hi-tech, gizmos and gadgets. If its just out, i want it. Loves watching tv on every device ever invented that can handle it

Matt

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