So what with the Scribd doc getting yanked down just a few hours after it went nuclear on the internet, it looks like not only was the doc legit, but that info about the next gen consoes has been around for a while, but in little bits and bobs that don't really give the whole picture until you put them all together.
One of the biggest things was clearly the Kinect glasses. A patent for these things was reported in March, but it's now that we've seen the doc that we can begin to understand exactly what plans MS have for them.
So it looks like the glasses have the ability to work in a number of ways. - see here: http://www.patentbolt.com/2012/03/microsoft-invents-projector-eyewear-for-xbox-beyond.html
They can work as a simple HUD, so your screen doesn't need to be cluttered, but more interestingly, being used in conjunction with Kinect, I think they also have the potential to be used as a full head tracking device that also displays augmented reality objects around you.
What does that mean?
Well, imagine seeing shrapnel flying towards you in a next gen CoD that maintains it's position in space and trajectory when when you duck out of the way.
Or seeing a wheel and a gearstick infront of you while Kinect tracks your body movements in the next Forza.
There's loads of potential there. Although, having said that, there was loads of potential with the Wiimote, but it didn't end up being much more than a waggle stick.
I'm really interested in these things as head tracking technology. If they can finally manage to come up with a way to beat the accuracy of a mouse on an FPS (ie, where you look, your crosshairs go), then that will be a huge thing.
Anyway, not only have MS been working on these things, so have Sony: http://www.patentbolt.com/2012/03/sony-patent-reveals-new-3d-controller-for-single-or-multiplayer-games.html
Although from the looks of Sony's patent, they might also come with a tablet that can display 3D augmented reality in front of you as you play.
I'm not sure if they Sony Eyetoy is as powerful as Kinect, but I'm sure that they'll have been ecstatic about seeing MSs doc yesterday, too.
