Microsoft impressed a lot of gamers with the potential that Project Natal showed on the Xbox 360 at E3, but their plans for the motion-sensing camera extend far beyond the console. Speaking to CNET, Microsoft chairman Bill Gates explained Natal will be able to connect to PCs as well, and he sees a world where it will even become a mainstay in offices around the world.
When talking about new technologies Microsoft is brewing, Gates said, "I'd say a cool example of that, that you'll see... in a little over a year, is this [depth] camera thing." Gates explained that although it was premiered as an Xbox 360 peripheral, it's meant "for media consumption as a whole, and even if they connect it up to Windows PCs for interacting in terms of meetings, and collaboration, and communication."

While ultimately the point of Natal on the 360 is to control games with your whole body, Microsoft also showed how it'll allow users to browse menus using only hand gestures. It's these kind of uses, presumably, that Gates says could extend to all kinds of media consumption. "Both the Xbox guys and the Windows guys latched onto that and now even since they latched onto it the idea of how it can be used in the office is getting much more concrete, and is pretty exciting," Gates said.

"I think the value is as great for if you're in the home, as you want to manage your movies, music, home system type stuff, it's very cool there," he continued. "And I think there's incredible value as we use that in the office connected to a Windows PC. So Microsoft research and the product groups have a lot going on there, because you can use the cost reduction that will take place over the years to say, why shouldn't that be in most office environments."

Project Natal: Invading all the world soon? Looks like that's the plan, but in the meantime we wait for more real details on the technology, which is set to launch some time next year.