Microsoft Studios have announced the launch of an Avatar Kinect for coming Spring. In regards to what this new add-on exactly is, the Avatar Kinect is supposed to be a feature that allows communications between players relative to a virtual home-like setting. Although one may feel that this should have been announced together with the announcement of the Xbox 360 kinect, but oh well, it was not to be. You may also argue that this is a complete PlayStation 3 Home knock-off, but then again you need to live with it; it might just turn out to be something better, who knows.
During his announcement at the Consumer Electronics Show, Microsoft president Steve Ballmer added that this new feature will be made available as a download update to all Xbox Live Gold Subscribers and it would be free of any charges(that might well settle some nerves, we suppose). Moreover, players will have the freedom to log in to their accounts via the Kinect and converse and interact with friends with the aid of their avatars which are known to register not only the body movements but also the face expressions. This may as well include the eyebrows and lip syncing. In addition to providing 15 varied environments to chat in, Microsoft has also announced the addition of Kinect gesture controls for Netflix and Hulu plus that were missing from the system before. Good news is that this particular addition is also not going to charge users a single penny. Also, this is going to be available come spring.
