Are you seeing what you think you’re seeing? No, you eyes aren’t deceiving you. And yes, what you see is, indeed, a picture of us playing the Xbox 360 in none other than the Sandbox. Its official; the Sandbox has added the 360 to its arsenal of modern day technology along with Google TVs and the Smartboard. Microsoft was kind enough to donate to us the Xbox to support our ongoing efforts to become the IT hub of Bentley University.
We spent a good amount of time this evening setting up the 360, along with the Kinect. If you’re extra attentive to detail in the picture, you’ll notice the flat screen panel sitting on the kiosk right under the TV. This display is actually equipped with a developmental version Windows 8 and is single-touch capable!
In the Sandbox, the Xbox 360 is much more than just a gaming console. It truly presents an opportunity to learn how video game development works, the stages of modeling and planning involved, as well as how the different parts come together to create a smoothly functioning game. The potential is taken even further with the Kinect, which allows you to use yourself as a controller. Such technology is widely used and is constantly evolving; how else would you be able to see characters in movies performing matrix-like moves or even be able to control robots (Matt Somma has a lot to say about this area, so make sure you keep an eye on the blog for a future update by him).
We’ve already started thinking about some cool ways to utilize Xbox 360 game development software. Drop by from time to time to take a look at the projects we’re undertaking. If you have an idea of yourself, don’t be afraid to pitch it to us or come by to explore and you just might learn something. Or you might be able to play some Halo, where you control a replica of yourself instead of a spartan!
