XBox One - Interface

Posted by : SIDDHANT Sunday, 25 August 2013

Not only was Microsoft showing Xbox One game demos on near-final hardware at gamescom 2013, but it was also showcasing the new dashboard layout and console features for the first time.

Behind closed doors, Microsoft's director of project planning Albert Penello showcased the new layout and functionality coming to Xbox One, including video recording, Twitter-like friends, facial recognition for profiles and post-release Achievements.

The new "cleaner" Home screen:
Xbox One's dashboard interface still uses the Metro interface already seen on Xbox 360, Windows 8 and Windows Phone, but the Home screen now offers less options at a glance so you quickly get to the content you want.

"We wanted to have a more elegant and simple home screen," said Penello ."A lot less clutter, a lot cleaner look. We have a lot less paths on Xbox One that there is on Xbox 360."

Multiple profiles and automatic sign-in with facial recognition:

Kinect will automatically log in users that it recognises and senses it wants to interact with the system. With up to six people signed in at once, it can then serve up content based on who is in control.

A live demo showed two developers taking turns saying voice commands that would take them to different parts of the interface - from People to Achievements - each time correctly showing their respective settings.

"Depending on who's talking, the system will offer up the right action for the right user," explained Penello.

"The whole system works this way. If he were to say, 'Xbox Go Home', it would bring him back to his Home screen. If he was to launch a game, it would launch the game into his profile with his saved games."

Snapping apps and switching games with voice:
While menu navigation with Kinect is nothing new, now it can take you to parts of the dashboard regardless of whatever app or game you are running.

A big part of this multitasking functionality is the Snap feature. Any game or app can run a second app on the side of the screen, including Netflix, YouTube, Internet Explorer, Achievements People feed and live TV.

The game or app will continue to run alongside it with no drop in performance, and then allows the user to say voice commands to control that app.

We assume that all apps will offer this functionality, so that future video services for example can be multi-tasked with games, but it will be interesting to see how useful it is compared to watching video or browsing webpages on a second-screen device.

While two games can't be run at the same time, changing from one to the other is now much faster. Since Xbox One will store all games on the hard drive, it will know everything in the user's library.

People: Now follow up to 1,000 friends:

Friends and Social is now named People on Xbox One due to a new Twitter-inspired system of Following and Followers.

"Think of Following as the same as your friends today. I like you, I want to be your friend, I get your Gamertag, we're now friends," said Penello.

"You can follow 1,000 people, but you can have an unlimited amount of followers. If you're a celebrity, sports star, musician who plays games and his fans want to see what he's doing, it doesn't take up a friend slot.

"You can have an infinite number of people following you," Penello added.

The same privacy settings seen on Xbox 360 are still there - you can block people and be seen only by friends or friends of friends - and you can customise a favourites list so that some of those that you follow are prioritised first on feeds and friends lists.

Friends and Achievements will remain cross-platform, so that different Xbox Live devices - from Xbox 360 to Windows 8 and Windows Phone - will appear in the same feed.