MICROSOFT Corp. opened the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) in Los Angeles with an Xbox 360 briefing that included visionary filmmaker Steven Spielberg introducing “Project Natal” and controller-free gaming.

Unveiled for the first time to the public, Project Natal, pronounced “nuh-tall” is a code name for a revolutionary new way to play, no controller required. See a ball? Kick it, hit it, trap it or catch it. If you know how to move your hands, shake your hips or speak, you and your friends can jump into the fun. The only experience needed to play is life experience.

Compatible with any Xbox 360 system, the Project Natal sensor is the world’s first to combine an RGB camera, depth sensor, multi-array microphone and custom processor running proprietary software all in one device. The Project Natal add-on peripheral is physically a 23 cm wide horizontal bar connected to a small circular base with a ball joint pivot. The device is designed to be positioned lengthwise, above or below the video display.

Unlike 2-D cameras and controllers, Project Natal tracks your full body movement in 3-D, while responding to commands, directions and even a shift of emotion in your voice. In addition, unlike other devices, the Project Natal sensor is not light-dependent. The depth sensor consists of an infrared projector combined with a monochrome CMOS sensor, and allows the Project Natal sensor to see in 3D under any ambient light conditions. It can recognize you just by looking at your face, and it doesn’t just react to key words but understands what you’re saying. For instance if you were to call out instructions to virtual players in a game, they would actually respond.

“The next step in interactive entertainment is to make the controller disappear,” Spielberg said. “With Project Natal, we’ll see games that bring everyone together through technology that actually recognizes us.”

Project Natal will work with current XBox 360 systems. Microsoft also released the Project Natal software development kit (SDK) to game makers who want to incorporate Natal functionality into their products. There’s no release date yet for the Project Natal add-on peripheral, but it probably won’t become available until there are at least a few games to play that have been developed for it. Some analysts are claiming that would be late in 2010.