E3: Molyneux and Milo

By Ellie Gibson Published 2 June, 2009

A chat with Peter and his new best friend.

The last time Eurogamer met up with Peter Molyneux was at the Game Developers Conference in March. Back then the Lionhead boss teased us with talk of his next project but wouldn't reveal any details, stating, "I will absolutely not talk about anything, any concepts or ideas, until I've got something tangible to show."

Luckily he had something tangible to show in time for Microsoft's E3 press conference. Yesterday Molyneux introduced us to a walking, talking virtual boy called Milo, and showed how we can interact with his world. It was a highly impressive demo, but one that raised more questions than it answered.

So Eurogamer sat down with Molyneux to find out more about the history of Milo's development and Lionhead's efforts to push the boundaries of artificial intelligence. And more importantly, to ask him some facetious questions about nobs, bras and dogs. Read on to find out what he had to say.

Eurogamer: How long have you been working on Milo?

Peter Molyneux: There are two answers to that. We started work with the Natal stuff in December, and the first thing we did was go round all the Microsoft people - the handwriting recognition people, the facial recognition people, the motion recognition people. We brought the technology together and put it in there.

So the world you see created here has been in development since December. Before that, we'd been working on this thing called emotional AI since we finished the first Black and White.

Molyneux presents Milo and Kate during Microsoft's E3 conference.

Eurogamer: Is this what you used to call Project Dmitri?

Peter Molyneux: Yes.

Eurogamer: I'm trying to understand how much of this comes from Lionhead and how much comes from Microsoft...

Peter Molyneux: A lot of stuff, like the voice recognition stuff, is based on things like Windows 7 technology. We just went round and took all that stuff and fitted it together. The interesting thing is, a lot of that stuff existed without reason - and when you bring it all together with something like this, it kind of works.

Eurogamer: So what can Milo do?

Peter Molyneux: Milo can recognise the emotions on your face and the emotions in your voice. He can recognise certain words you say. You can have conversations with him, you can read stories to him. We're trying to bring all these things together. Some of them are tricks - I'll be absolutely honest with you - to make you believe Milo's real.

He can recognise what you're wearing. If he notices you've got dark bags under your eyes he will say, 'You look tired today.'

Eurogamer: Really?

Peter Molyneux: Absolutely, all of that works. We're combining all that together to make you really believe that he understands what you say.

Let's try an experiment. When a human voice says something funny, there's a different tone in the voice. Even though Milo's not trained to recognise your voice, if you say something funny to him, he should recognise it as something amusing. Try it now.

Eurogamer: Tell him a joke, you mean?

Peter Molyneux: Yeah.

'E3: Molyneux and Milo' Screenshot 2

Claire from Lionhead interacts with Milo.

Eurogamer: OK. Milo?

Milo: [Looks up, smiles and nods]

Eurogamer: Bloody hell. Er, OK. A Times New Roman walks into a bar. The barman says, 'We don't serve your type.'

Milo: [Giggles]

Eurogamer: Bloody hell.

Peter Molyneux: Now, he didn't really understand every word you said, but from the tone of your voice he guessed you were telling a joke.

Eurogamer: But I put it to you, Peter, that was not a very good joke. So the fact he laughed at it demonstrates a serious flaw within the software.

Peter Molyneux: Well, that wasn't a real laugh. That was a polite giggle. Let's move on. The game is called Milo and Kate and you play through a story. There is another character called Kate. Kate is a dog.

Eurogamer: But of course! Wait, are you sure it's not a parrot?

Peter Molyneux: No, it's not a parrot. Milo can recognise your writing - you can write words, write numbers, draw pictures, and put them into his world.

Eurogamer: Can you draw a nob? Because most people, given the opportunity to draw something, will draw a nob.

Peter Molyneux: That's the interesting thing, you see. We've been very, very clever about this. Although you can put stuff in his world, you'll notice he never shows you the stuff. So although you could do obscene stuff, he'll just look at it and he won't understand it. He won't pin that picture up on the wall, because I'm fully aware people will do things like that.

Eurogamer: Can you explain more about the pocket money system and how that works?

Peter Molyneux: You can buy stuff for Milo's world, like a bicycle or a trampoline. He'll come back from school one day and say, 'Oh, Alex' - Alex is this character at school who always does a bit better than Milo - 'Alex has got a new bike. When can we get a new bike?'

To get that bike you need to earn money by doing activities. There are three activities you can do, and the amount of time you spend on each activity sculpts your Milo in different ways - so everybody's Milo will be completely unique to them.

If you do lots of work, your Milo will be very studious. His hair will have a side parting. He'll be quite worried about his appearance and he won't like to get dirty. Whereas if you do more of the play stuff with Milo, he'll be more of a kid who goes out and scratches his knees.

Your character doesn't have to be a boy, it can be a girl. At the start you can choose whether to be play as Milly or Milo.

It's all going a bit lifestyle in the Natal conference video introduction.

Eurogamer: One of my colleagues did want me to ask why you made him a 12 year-old boy, and not a nubile 17 year-old lady acrobat?

Peter Molyneux: If we were making a porn game, I probably would do that. He's not 12, he's about 10, and that's before he's hit puberty. Part of the amazing impact of this is he can remind you of your childhood.

Eurogamer: My colleague pointed out that if it was a 17 year-old acrobat, instead of things like 'Have you done your homework?' you could say, 'Will you take your bra off?'

Peter Molyneux: Yeah, you could do. You could make a great porn game with this stuff, that's absolutely for sure. But I'd love the idea that you've got this character who you are inspiring. It is such a wonderful feeling that to inspire anything, whether it's a dog or a person or a kid. When you see and feel that emotion, it's pretty emotional.

Eurogamer: You said he only understands certain words. So presumably you can't have a conversation about the situation in Palestine?

Peter Molyneux: The number of words he understands is built up over time. For Claire [the lady who demoed a conversation with Milo during Microsoft's conference], it's something like 500 words.

But we haven't cracked the real problem, which is him understanding the meaning of it all. He'll give you the illusion he does that. The interesting thing is you can only talk to him when the Talk icon appears at the bottom of the screen. That's when he's listening to you; the rest of the time, he's not. He's listening to you because there's a context in which you can talk to him.

One of the journalists who came in before you had obviously read up on the Turing test. He asked Milo one of the questions in the test - 'Do you remember when we met yesterday?' Well, of course, we haven't cracked the Turing test. If we had, then applying it to a computer game would be the last of the solutions we'd use it for.

'E3: Molyneux and Milo' Screenshot 4

Ellie got to play a Burnout prototype, you know. You can read about that in our other feature.

Eurogamer: Looks like my time's up, so briefly: are you going to change your name to Gepetto Molyneux?

Peter Molyneux: As in Pinocchio? I could do, I suppose. I have to tell you, it is amazing. You do feel, in a way, that you are creating something that has never existed before. When you show it to people, especially non-gamers, it does promote this incredible emotional reaction.

Eurogamer: I was nearly in tears during the E3 conference. But that was partly because I am a girl and I have jetlag and the internet wouldn't work properly for the Live Text. But yes, I was nearly in tears. I didn't want Shane Kim to see me cry though.

Peter Molyneux: We have had people in tears, because there are times when this is quite an emotional journey. It's very different. It's very ambitious. But we're going for it.

Milo and Kate has no current release date, and nor does Project Natal. Check out the b-roll on Eurogamer TV.

Picture of Ellie.

About Ellie Gibson

Since joining Eurogamer in the mid 2000s, Ellie has written about subjects as diverse as the fall of Gizmondo, the rise of Hollyoaks actresses in Red Alert games and the noise a bear makes under NSFW circumstances.

Read more articles from Ellie by visiting the Ellie Gibson archive page.

You may also like...

Comments (81) 3 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • LazyDan #1 3 years ago

    Will not work as they are presenting it. This is the start of the Molyneux cycle, so by the time it comes out and promise after promise has been backpeddled on it'll be a Sims clone.

  • JohnnyWashnGo #2 3 years ago

    Its an amazing demo, but looks like the most boring game imaginable.

    If I wanted to spend my spare time interacting with 10 year old boys I would... well, to be honest, I don't want to spend my time doing that!

  • Xerx3s #3 3 years ago

    Interesting. Not really my field of work but I know my mate will love this (studies advanced AI). So the only thing that they didn't manage to do is understand deeper contexts of things (that would be the holy grail of true AI). Question is if we really want that tbf. Do I want the enemy soldiers in MW2 to suddenly become aware of his actions and the implications of it and throw down his weapons in a fit of remorse?

  • Xerx3s #4 3 years ago

    I love that people have thought of applications for sex, 2 seconds after it was announced.

  • Les #5 3 years ago

    "A lot of stuff, like the voice recognition stuff, is based on things like Windows 7 technology."

    LOL. Even at E3 they instruct their staff to reference the rebranded Vista.

  • Venkman90 #6 3 years ago

    I doubt this was really project Dimitri, I bet that just got shelved as it was too ambitious, this is a cheap gimmick not the result of 10 years of work.

  • patchbox360 #7 3 years ago

    must admit i didnt like Molyneux, but he is starting to win me over with his aspiration for gaming.

  • Britesparc Verified Creative, ITV #8 3 years ago

    The fact that Ellie told him a joke and he laughed is proof enough that it works to me. I never expected it to be Data or Arnold Rimmer or something - so the fact that it works just about how the demo presented it is really bloody impressive.

    Although I agree with others, I'm not sure exactly how much game there is here.

  • frunk #9 3 years ago

    Some classic EG questioning there. Loved the article. Milo is juts a"little disturbing" and it will be interesting to see how it progresses. However I think it will be more interesting to see how it progresses rather than play it.

    Love the idea of the technology but I feel it is of limited use... one of the reasons the Wiimote works is because you CAN sit on the sofa and wiggle your hand :)

  • Gnort #10 3 years ago

    While the technology does sound very impressive, the "game" they're developing sounds thoroughly unappealing, at least to me. I'm somewhat surprised Molyneux seems so excited about it.

  • onyxbox #11 3 years ago

    What they didn't tell Ellie is that there's a guy under the table...

    Oldest trick in the book :-D

  • Erebu #12 3 years ago

    Why a boy?
    Couldn't they make it a bartender?

  • anomagnus #13 3 years ago

    this is a pedo's dream....

    I'm at a loss to understand the thinking behind this 'game'

    Whats its target market? I find the whole thing a little unsettling. And no, i'm not some crusty fucking Luddite, but the only practical target markets i can think of are:-

    1) Children without friends. This won't help them, its more likely to fuck them up for life

    2) Pedo's- sad but true.

    This seems the electronic version of those guys that buy life like dolls for their homes....

  • stampax #14 3 years ago

    I WANT! Find out te release date ill be buying a box for this def.

  • Negotiator #15 3 years ago

    So all you nob heads who said it wouldn't work, how you like those apples. Pete is a pioneer, and with Microsofts 3D motion tech he will create an amazing experience.

  • ShakaCarnage #16 3 years ago

    But Ellie - WHAT DID YOU THINK OF IT?

  • gaselite #17 3 years ago

    This looks lovely, and the principles guiding its development are admirable, and I wish them every success in the world with it.

    Some of the relentless cynicism on EG from commenters is highly dispiriting and exhibits a frightening lack of imagination.
    Edited by 1 at 02/06/09 @ 10:24

  • Der_tolle_Emil #18 3 years ago

    The demo was very impressive and somewhat scary at the same time. I just can't shake the feeling of slightly disturbed people acting like parents. It takes this quite a bit farther than Tamagotchi or Nintendogs ever did - if it works. Great interview btw.

  • Dizzy #19 3 years ago

    It *is* quite impressive technology but it will take years to reach the levels we have seen in these demos and it will take some VERY creative thinking of devs before this all ends up in awesome games.

    Still.. some of the small things (like automatically signing in the correct person in your household) will make the 360 a better experience for most of us. It is very ambitious but MS have all this tech lying around... so why not try to unify it and use it in a consumer device?

  • MENTAL1ST Verified Senior Software Engineer, Picsel UK Ltd. #20 3 years ago

    Ellie must have been impressed (or very, very tired) since she was hardly sarcastic or flippant at all.

    I wondered, when I watched the video for this, whether this was Dimitry - and Molyneux says it is. I'm surprised they haven't made much more of a big deal about that, since Dmitry was their top secret post Black & White revolutionary AI thing they went on about for ages.

  • ram #21 3 years ago

    who hosted the interview? Beavis or Butthead?

    nobs, bras, nubile gymnast uh huh huh huh huh

  • spazmo #22 3 years ago

    Molyneux invented the dog.

  • rhubarbandcustard #23 3 years ago

    Put this tech into Fable 3 or Elder Scrolls 5 and videogaming is going to be like an acid trip.

  • shotgun44 #24 3 years ago

    As impressive as the tech is, I don't really see the point in this. I'm more excited in seeing what people like Valve can do with their piles of money and experience with things like *fingers crossed* Half Life 3. To be fair I have my own friends and I'd rather see real games use this level of tech, not creepy virtual children. Did no one at the original meeting not point out that making it a kid called Milo (Milo? Really?) was a little strange!? I'm honestly more excited about the facebook features!

  • schnide #25 3 years ago

    There's something I find very, very disturbing about all this. The Wii has a lot to answer for.

  • MENTAL1ST Verified Senior Software Engineer, Picsel UK Ltd. #26 3 years ago

    I'm quite disappointed that so many people are jumping to the conclusion that anyone who wants to make friends with children is a paedophile. That's like asserting anyone who buys Nintendogs is into bestiality.

    What is disturbing to me, though, is the echoes of so many science fiction short stories about artificial life. Especially the notion that you'll turn it off one day, and back on the next, or maybe even leave it a week, and something will have changed. With the likes of fable's money totting up over time, Lionhead have a history of doing things like that. I quite like the idea that there's a story to it, so there's actually something to play, though that might lead to an even greater headfuck.

  • Negotiator #27 3 years ago

    I remember Sony giving a demo of a very similar interface a few years ago using their Eye Toy Camera thing where a man was chatting to two female secret agents and they could tell when he was laughing etc, It wasnt quite as detailed as this but it was very similar.

    That was fully scripted, this is AI at work, they could tell when his mouth changed shape and a scripted reponse would follow. This is true AI it reacts to full face expression, voice and tone, certain words etc.. Pete has said himself its not perfect yet, but even at this stage it does more than anything else in the world.

  • Les #28 3 years ago

    "Additionally the "hype" surrounding Natal feels very similar to when the Wii was announced, we all thought it would be incredible swinging swords, playing tennis, it captured our imaginations and we thought "yes" nintendo are really innovating....and all it amounted too was half assed controls, mostly crap games that give you cramp and a ton of shovelware."

    Which led to Nintendo ruling this gen...

    I'm pretty sure Natal will not have such an impact though. Because it is more encompassing than a Wii-mote it is also much more complex to integrate in 'regular' games. So it will probably result in the same mini game collections that we saw with EyeToy. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing IMHO.

  • Gaol #29 3 years ago

    That guy shoulda been helped straight from the stage and into the Priory.

    Total cobblers.

  • Negotiator #30 3 years ago

    There's something I find very, very disturbing about all this. The Wii has a lot to answer for.

    Schnide what the hell has the Wii got to do with this, the Wii is a point and click controller. This is full body motion control interacting with state of the art AI, before you go comparing stuff open your eyes and ears, muppet.

  • shotgun44 #31 3 years ago

    Why are people still saying this stuff is a long way off? Did we not see a working demo yesterday? I know nothing really from an industry standpoint but I assumed that the woman talking to Milo was actually using the software?

  • CapnCloudchaser #32 3 years ago

    Surely dreams of virtual reality games has been heading in this direction? I can think of many different applications for technology like this, the most obvious being role play. As someone said above, think of how you could actually interact and talk with NPC's in a game like the Elder Scrolls. Virtual pet games will take on a whole new lease of life too.

  • Domovoi #33 3 years ago

    I wish we could've had an actual in-depth interview rather than a couple of sex jokes. Still, the fact that he actually recognized a joke is pretty impressive.

  • Negotiator #34 3 years ago

    I'm pretty sure Natal will not have such an impact though. Because it is more encompassing than a Wii-mote it is also much more complex to integrate in 'regular' games. So it will probably result in the same mini game collections that we saw with EyeToy. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing IMHO.

    Les, this breaks down the barrier for non gamers, people can interact with a game in a complex way without holding a controller or device for the very first time. Everyone will want this, Wii is a gimmick, this is true innovation at work. When this comes out Microsoft will not only win the console war, it will own it.

  • Eraysor #35 3 years ago

    "When you show it to people, especially non-gamers, it does promote this incredible emotional reaction."

    They're going to have to do some serious work disguising all the gaming conventions of this, like the specific mode for him listening to you.
    Edited by 1 at 02/06/09 @ 11:25

  • Azazel #36 3 years ago

    Hmmm, my dog is called Milo.

  • Widge #37 3 years ago

    Ah, Captain Smugface picture changed

  • Les #38 3 years ago

    "Why are people still saying this stuff is a long way off? Did we not see a working demo yesterday?"

    Because it was a demo in a controlled environment as others have already mentioned in other threads. That's a bit different from an actual implementation in a proper game. Getting this stuff to work properly in a game that people might actually be interested to buy is rather complex, as the relatively slow progression of Sony's EyeToy has shown before. How long ago was that pet game announced? The one where you drew stuff and it would appear in the game as a 3D object? Or that tank game?

  • Goffee #39 3 years ago

    Can't believe all the negativity here. This is just the Pong of immersive gaming, give it 18 months to two years and "gymnast virgins with chainsaws" will be No.1

  • MENTAL1ST Verified Senior Software Engineer, Picsel UK Ltd. #40 3 years ago

    Because it is more encompassing than a Wii-mote it is also much more complex to integrate in 'regular' games

    According to this report:

    <a href="http://www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1902208 ,00.html">
    http://ww w.time.com/time/arts/article/0,...</a>

    EA have hacked Natal wheel-free Mario Kart Wii style controls into Burnout (presumably paradise), and motion sensed foot control for pedals, too.

    As I mentioned before, when the leaked reports of this were being discussed, if it can easily be used to add a bit of head tracking for changing view perspective on FPS, or even platform games, then this could change a lot of games in very interesting and subtle ways that could be difficult for the competition to replicate.
    Edited by 2 at 02/06/09 @ 11:33

  • Widge #41 3 years ago

    Oh and targeting non-gamers is positive now is it? I thought it was the all encompassing evil, consoles only for hardcore games with teh gameplayz.

  • Retroid #42 3 years ago

    "Will not work as they are presenting it. This is the start of the Molyneux cycle"

    He's openly stating that it employs tricks and only understands certain words, but will learn some over time. I wish people would give him a bloody chance instead of instantly "Mlolyneux".

  • Darren #43 3 years ago

    This piece of software sounds very intriguing from a technical point of view but it's still just an illusion albeit an incredibly elaborate one and I suspect that it is something that you'd get bored of once you realise its limitations. Anyone old enough to remember the innovative Little Computer People from Activision on the Commodore 64, which had you interacting (or, rather trying to interact) with a little person in a house can tell you that, although that "game" is obviously incredibly dated by today's standards but was state-of-the-art at the time.

    If this software person can remember things and use them in later conversations then it could be very intriguing and give the best illusion of an artificial life yet. Whatever it looks interesting and at least it's trying to be something different, which is a rarity these days. It could be used as an educational tool for children for example, where they discuss and learn things they've been doing at school along with their Milo or Milly. I doubt anyone would object to that and kids would no doubt find it fun too.

  • XdarXideX #44 3 years ago

    I still think he is a fraud and I'll believe this -amazing- game/tech demo when I get to "play" it.

  • Darren #45 3 years ago

    I hope the software isn't just restricted to choosing between a boy or girl. How about having your own English speaking alien for example, even designed by you, that you can interact with? Or even a talking animal of some kind (dog, cat, horse, lion, whatever) just for the sheer fun of it? Why just have a human being, the avatar itself doesn't have to be realistic, just the A.I. driving it.

  • Ryze #46 3 years ago

    Right! Break out the virtual Beyonce / Jolie / Tweedy simulators!

  • Xerx3s #47 3 years ago

    "He's openly stating that it employs tricks and only understands certain words, but will learn some over time. I wish people would give him a bloody chance instead of instantly "Mlolyneux"."

    That plus Lionhead always have a couple of test projects cooking that are amazing but will then be cut up to be used in other games. It's usually more R&D than anything else.

    They had The Room ages ago i.e. It was way ahead of it's time back then. It was never released but 2 generations later nearly every decent game uses a lot of the things that where then thought to be a load of bollocks.

  • zabeu #48 3 years ago

    Got to love this guy's enthusiasm (and Ellie, of course).

    That said, like all "artificial intelligence" it will most likely seem intelligent for an hour, and artificial after that.

  • frostcircus #49 3 years ago

    I actually laughed out loud at the Times New Roman joke :(

  • kangarootoo #50 3 years ago

    "The fact that Ellie told him a joke and he laughed is proof enough that it works to me."

    Hmmm. All that really proves is exactly what they described, that it can recognise tone of voice. We can't then assume that EVERYTHING works just as we imagine. And it is about what we imagine, because actual statements about what this software does as a whole are absent as far as I can see.


    @Negotiator

    Ok, something weird is going on here. You are just too damn enthusiastic and believing to be a normal person. You seem utterly convinced in every way that this thing is one step short of Skynet, yet you have seen exactly the same highly staged demo (followed by some extremely brief and simple voice tone recognition) as the rest of us.

    PM said himself the voice tech is lifted from Windows. And Windows voice recognition is not the best in the business (I don't just mean the games business btw). So why are we suddenly assuming Lionhead have the best AI in the world, just because they have skinned it in posh graphics?

    Do you work for Lionhead or something? Or are you genuinely just a massively blinded fan? This demo has proved almost nothing to anybody even remotely interested in somethign called "evidence", so it is ludicrous to start forming firm conclusions either way.

  • gott_sei_dank #51 3 years ago

    knob or nob

  • Floppy #52 3 years ago

    I'm impressed, I genuinely am, but this isn't for me:

    1) Waving my arms around like Magnus Pike to control things wore off quickly on the EyeToy.

    2) I already groan at the DS games that require me to speak into the microphone. Frustrated expletives aside whilst in the fray, I really have no interest in verbally interacting with my telly.

    3) How will the facial recognition cope with all the ugly gamers in the world? :)

  • kangarootoo #53 3 years ago

    @Retroid [mod]

    I think perhaps the issue some poeple have is that this feels like the same cycle they have seen before. PM being open about the tricks being used may speak volumes for his honesty, but it doesn't make anyone any more sure that the end result (you know, the actual game) will include all of the features being discussed at this stage.

    Now I thought Fable 2 was a great game and I enjoyed playing it a lot. But I also recall PM talking about LOVE being one of the three USPs (the other two being one button combat and something else, the dog perhaps). And that turned out to be utter bollox. Now maybe Milo will end up being an entertaining game, but I and others are struggling to see the connection between that end result and the tech demo we have seen so far.
    Edited by 1 at 02/06/09 @ 12:03

  • frostcircus #54 3 years ago

    Though deep down I'm afraid that Milo will in fact work every bit as well as they say, will become wildly popular and will indirectly lead to the death of deadpan. Jokes are always funnier with no inflection at all - when they're told as stories, not as jokes. But this is a truth that poor Milo will never be able to understand. This is actually rather upsetting.

    So this is just lovely, I buy this game and I'm going to have an adorable little kid telling me I seem sad every time I look at him. And I will never be able to tell him why.

  • #55 3 years ago

    Does this software understand linguistically what we are saying or is it responding to wave pattern analysis of our voice?( the feeble joke example ). It seems cleverly put together but at the end of the day, its not intelligent enough if it only has 500 words, and especially if it doesn't understand the words in context. I bet you could fool the shit out of it by saying things but make sentences sound like questions.

    Smoke and mirrors is all i see with this tbh.

  • Fidjit #56 3 years ago

    All the kid's responses sound like pre-recorded soundbytes rather than actual speech snythesis - if this is the case he'll have a very limited set of audio responses making any real notion of AI redundant. Also means he won't be able to greet me as "Fidjit" in the same way he greeted the girl as Claire.

    Also, voice recognition and appropriate response in games is nothing new. Worked a treat in Rainbow Six 3 on the original Xbox. ( although not with intonation/inflection admittedly)

    Edited by 2 at 02/06/09 @ 12:23

  • schnide #57 3 years ago

    @Negotiator

    Ironic name given what you write. Anyway..

    If you're trying to say that this hasn't been driven forward hugely up Microsoft's agenda because of the Wii then you live in a different world to me. Watch the promo reel and tell me that the pictures of the whole family sitting on the sofa and having so much fun in front of a games console (did they even show a 360 itself?) hasn't been heavily influenced by Nintendo's own adverts which have done them so well.

  • Linkified #58 3 years ago

    CyberCop 'If your an adult playing Milo then your playing it for the wrong reasons'

  • Les #59 3 years ago

    "EA have hacked Natal wheel-free Mario Kart Wii style controls into Burnout (presumably paradise), and motion sensed foot control for pedals, too."

    There's much more to it than that though. Reading simple movements and translating that into control input is the easiest part, as it has been done already by the likes of EyeToy. But working facial recognition and the more elaborate stuff into a game is much more tasking.

  • kangarootoo #60 3 years ago

    I don't think its as straight forward as saying "Reading simple movements and translating that into control input is the easiest part".

    It might be easy to do the first bit, i.e reading the simple movements.

    But translating those simple movements into usable effective controls is far from trivial (as we have seen so with so many damn awful 3rd party Wii titles, and a handful of similarly poor SIXAXIS implementations).

    EyeToy games always asked very little of the accuracy of the player input, and that was their strength. The same can't be said of some of the examples in the promo movie (like the kungfu game for one).
    Edited by 1 at 02/06/09 @ 12:53

  • Spekingur #61 3 years ago

    It's the beginning of Halo, I tells you!

  • makeamazing #62 3 years ago

    Great interview Eillie, all the right questions, that normally people wouldnt ask :D

    For people who are saying wow it laughed thats amazing, thats showing AI.. its not really. The voice recognition software sees if it can understand a percentage of the words, if not, make Graphic laugh/giggle depending on the percentage.

    Hes already admitted that the voice activation is based on Windows, and that my friends shows how well scripted this was... Voice technology in Vista is not that good.. trust me Ive used it.. its quicker to phone someone else up, get them to type it and then email it across.

    I will certainly eat my hat if this comes off, but i reckon its another 15-30 years before we get what people are expecting, and what they will actually get.

  • Collymilad #63 3 years ago

    Wow it's amazing to witness the narrowmindedness of some people.

    Have you people actually watched the press conference? Fair enough, they went on about Milo a bit even though that WAS fing cool. The point is, it doesn't matter WHAT they showed as a demo for the new camera, it matters that we were shown how accurate it can be.

    Anyone that has watched the videos knows this, and comparing it to eyetoy is unbelievably dumb. If I was Nintendo I would be very worried right now because this actually makes Wii controls look pretty damn stupid tbh.

  • Les #64 3 years ago

    "It might be easy to do the first bit, i.e reading the simple movements.

    But translating those simple movements into usable effective controls is far from trivial"

    I was referring to the driving controls example. That's a limited set of simple movements resulting in relatively simple control inputs for the driving game. There's a reason that that's one of the first 'real use' examples.

  • makeamazing #65 3 years ago

    @Collymilad did you even watch the video trailers for the product.. the kid playing Godzilla, the monster moves his feet before the kid does... smoke amd mirrors :D

    Cool idea, not going to work as they are presenting it in reality.. which is a shame, but also a big lie to steal the show.

  • Les #66 3 years ago

    "Cool idea, not going to work as they are presenting it in reality.. which is a shame, but also a big lie to steal the show."

    True. Will probably go the way of the amazing table PC...

  • glaeken #67 3 years ago

    What I think is very interesting is this is quite similar to the type of virtual person various researchers in AI have been putting together for the last few years. If you look at those attempts none of them are truely AI or even remotley close but they are all aiming for roughly the same thing as Milo with giving realistic responses to various types of human input. I find it fasinating that we are not too far away from being able to have something like that on domestic technology now.

    As to if its a game or not well I don't see it being something I would pay money for as I would think the novelty will wear off pretty quickly once you guage just how limited it really is but as a glimpse at what future GUI's might start to become its pretty dam cool.

  • rhubarbandcustard #68 3 years ago

    The implications for this tech in role playing games has really got me thinking.

    In a few years time, once the tech has improved and been put into games, it will have enormous impact.

    Say it's 2014, I'm playing Elder Scrolls 7, I reach a tower to save the beautiful princess, the screen cuts to her, she runs forward looking at me, actually looking at me due to the facial recognition and she begins.."oh hero, you've come to save..."

    And then she stops, looks at me more closely and screws up her face in disgust.

    Because if I'm playing this late at night, chances are I'm sat in my favourite easy chair wearing just my pants and eating snack food.

    It boggles the mind.

  • Les #69 3 years ago

    "The implications for this tech in role playing games has really got me thinking."

    What about poker games? In a couple of years you'd need a good poker face or else start wearing sunglasses and silly hats to get away with bluffing... ;)

  • spekkeh #70 3 years ago

    After all the shit I've been pouring on Molyneux (I doubt he ever reads it, but still), I do feel compelled to say that I actually quite like him. Not as much as Ellie, obviously, but still. Having grown up with games and now being a games scientist as profession, I really like how Molyneux is constantly looking into new ways to foster emotional involvement or other affective responses during gameplay. He's also being very honest about it in this interview, of course he didn't beat the Turing test, he's just made a demo to indicate which direction the new technology could take us.

    The problem is that this is not usable for games in the near future and in that respect I don't think Microsoft should have included it in the press conference, but I can't really blame Molyneux for that. Likely, he will try to incorporate this into a game and it will be horribly botched. Actually I think Molyneux should stop making games and MS should just pay him as a video game visionary, creating demoes of exciting new directions, that other devs can then capitalize on. He'd have my application letter and resume within nanoseconds too.

  • glaeken #71 3 years ago

    @ rhubarbandcustard Yeah its actually quite funny because if they used something like this in an RPG you would actually have to act your part. I am not sure if I find the picture of me acting my part alone in front of the TV funny or not.

    Presumably they will be able to get around the sitting in your pants problem though by just having it as a given that you are wearing a suit of armor. An unlockable pants only mode could be fun though.
    Edited by 1 at 02/06/09 @ 13:53

  • stevetuck #72 3 years ago

    i love ellie :(

  • BadBoyBonner #73 3 years ago

    A boy who only understands 500 words isn't that impressive.

    But what about an animal that can understand 500 words? Now that would seem most impressive - to the masses.

    MS speech recognition is extremely good once you have trained it properly.
    Edited by 1 at 02/06/09 @ 14:35

  • Weezer #74 3 years ago

    Jeez, what is Ellie's fascination with drawing 'nobs'?
    Edited by 1 at 02/06/09 @ 16:50

  • makeamazing #75 3 years ago

    MS speech recognition is extremely good once you have trained it properly.

    Not going to be much fun of a game if you have to stand there teaching it all 500+ words :D... yes i know you would do that when you set up the camera etc and not in game, but still.

  • Bennicus #76 3 years ago

    "That's the interesting thing, you see. We've been very, very clever about this." Goes on to describe not-at-all-interesting-and-fairly-straightforward way of censoring players input

    It would be quite easy to write a Molyneux hype AI I reckon :p

  • sirtacos #77 3 years ago

    Obviously this is way too ambitious - even for Molyneux - but that's the beauty of it. Yes; it probably will 'fail' in more than one way, but I'm glad to see such a high profile videogame developer take tiny incremental steps towards radically improving computer A.I.
    ...and am I the only one who was impressed with Molyneux's relatively restrained manner (i.e. no wildly swinging arms about and describing this as the Second Coming)?

  • Spekingur #78 3 years ago

    I don't think you guys are getting it.

    With facial recognition and voice recognition and even just "faking it" this is a tech changing thing. Sometimes we just want someone to talk to - and if this is a learning AI then it will "learn you" as time goes by.
    And this would be perfect for the elderly that often have no one to talk to - which is what they need. Someone to talk to. If a robotic dog can do wonders for them then this is life changing. So yes, this changes alot.

  • tancredo #79 3 years ago

    With voice, facial and hand writing recognition, I can see many teaching tools being developed with Milo / Nadal in mind.

    English / French / Spanish ... language learning courses, with the "teacher" being able to recognize accents and voice inflections

    Math / Physics / Science courses

    Music courses with the teacher recognizing the placing of your fingers on a given instrument

    Exercise routines being perfectly monitored by the game.
    .........

    Besides all the game aplications of using gesture / voice recognition in combination with the traditional controllers

  • SEVQA #80 3 years ago

    Hi Milo how are you today?

    Sorry mum told me not to speak to strangers!

  • Spekingur #81 3 years ago

    You could maybe teach him that!