A few months ago while attending the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco, I found myself a fish out of water. You see, I’m not really a gamer. Sure, I had a short love affair with Guitar Hero. (Didn’t we all?) I was attending the GDC merely to support one of our clients in the industry. None-the-less, as I walked up and down the conference streets I became hooked, almost drawn to one place over and over again — the Xbox compound.

The Xbox 360 – oh sweet, motherboard of fun! During my stay at the Xbox compound I killed communists and fired grenade launchers at aliens but the best part…I got to shake some non-gamer bootie, literally. That’s right — I’m talking about Dance Central for the Xbox Kinect.

How awesome is the Xbox Kinect system? All you have to do is stand in front of it and it “senses” your movement.  It sees you. You don’t need to hold on to anything. No controller needed. All you need is…you! As soon as I got home, I rushed out to Costco and bought one of my very own along with a copy of Dance Central and Call of Duty.

Once I set up my Xbox and got more familiar with the Kinect system I found some more awesome, albeit scary features. Kinect recognizes me. When I’m standing in front of it, my avatar shows up. It can tell when I’m standing in front of it or when a guest is standing in front.

This got me thinking: How does this thing really work? Is Kinect Big Brother? What else could we use this technology for?

For those interested, here's a video breakdown of the technology.

As reported in Mashable, after releasing the Xbox Kinect system in Novemeber of 2010, 2.5 million units were sold in one month. In March, the Kinect system earned its place in the Guiness Book of World Records as the fastest selling consumer device. Turns out I’m not the only one who bought “The Kinect” this year. With this technology in so many households worldwide, we have to wonder what’s next.

As an interactive marketer by day, a technology that recognizes a specific user and then references a catalog of previous likes, uses and habits is intriguing to say the least. Although the Kinect technology might have changed the gaming industry for good, it's uses can reach into other industries as well, specifically marketing and advertising. It's the stuff movies are made of.

If I was a hacker, I would have my sights set on Kinect!