Milo

allanb49

http://kotaku.com/5615876/what-if-the-xbox-kinect-virtual-child-simulator-is-great?utm_source=Kotaku+Newsletter&utm_campaign=c8d8911f4a-UA-142218-8&utm_medium=email

One of gaming's big dreamers, game designer Peter Molyneux, showed us Project Milo — a controller-less game about a virtual boy — two Junes ago. There was potential. There were hitches. A year later, Milo's made a lot of progress.

In a just-released stage demo of Milo, Molyneux shows how the Milo project — which requires this fall's Kinect sensor array for the Xbox 360 — has developed. If this pans out, it'll be hard to hate.

Milo had seemed like a know-it-all brat, Molyneux explains. Using the Kinect sensor he could see you, sort of hear you and tell you things. But what he needed, Molyneux says in a just-released video of the designer showing the game at a TED conference, is a problem. Now Milo has one. He's a British boy who has moved to the U.S. His parents are too busy to help him with his problems, so he conjures you as an imaginary friend.

Watch the video and witness how more of a game-like points system has been added to Milo. And note, as I'm sure you will, all the talk about how Milo will adapt to player input. ""We are changing the mind of Milo constantly," Molyneux said. "That means no two people's Milos can be the same."

One example Molyneux showed, was that the Milo user/player will decide whether Milo smashes a snail under his foot.

The most ambitious element of Milo will be that the simulated boy will be connected to a Microsoft data network, enabling the simulation to be more complex. Says Molyneux: "His mind is based in the cloud. As millions of people use it he'll get smarter and more clever. He'll recognize more objects and understand more words."

The Milo project will use Microsoft's TellMe speech-recognition service to allow users to use natural language to talk to Milo. Even Molyneux acknowledged that voice recognition technologies have a poor history, so let's remain skeptical about that.

The game/program will use a body-recognition program to detect how a player positions their body. As an example, Molyneux suggested that Milo will match a seated/leaned-in posture of the user. (It must be noted that this Kinect program, which seemed to be keyed to upper-body and arm movement, was played on stage at TED while the user was sitting down — a Kinect first for a public demo that may signal Microsoft is overcoming its Kinect-couch incompatibility issues.)

There is no release date for Milo. The Xbox 360's Kinect sensor ships in November.

As millions of people use it he'll get smarter and more clever.

Holy Crap Moleyneux is going to create SKYNET!

Blazer

I'll believe jack about Milo until I see it for real myself...even the much lauded demo was a joke when Lionshead admitted that a guy on a laptop behind the scenes was scripting Milo's responses.

DesperateDan

Aaron Greenberg - "Project Milo absolutely continues in development at Lionhead Studios, It is just not a product we plan to bring to market this holiday. The team at Lionhead has always been a center of innovation and will continue to deliver against that charter. "

"Poor Aaron Greensburg - he's on the PR team, he hasn't seen it since last year, so he came up with this stock answer that Milo is alive and well and living in Guildford but it's still a tech demo" Peter Molyneux forgets the job title of the director of product management for xbox 360 and xbox live. Edge magazine August 2010

Looks like Milo will never see the light of day again.......

hightower1

Heard a few months back that it was only going to be a tech demo, was gutted. Was sooo lookin forward to messing that kid up. The plan was we'd leave him on when the lads were around drinkin, scan the little guy in a beer and some smokes, virtual back hand when he got outta line etc.

Sea08

some really interesting technology going on here but it also seems that as a game they don't really know where to go with it.

http://www.ted.com/talks/peter_molyneux_demos_milo_the_virtual_boy.html

Not The Real Scarecrow

Well, looks like the paedo market is gonna be well catered to.