Kinect To Get Sesame Street TV, National Geographic TV, and Project Columbia

If you have children,  or are a child at heart, you’ll want to learn more about the new Kinect TV shows that Microsoft is currently developing for 2012. Working in partnership with experts from Sesame Workshop and National Geographic, Microsoft today announced new“playful learning” experiences —“Kinect Sesame Street TV,” “Kinect Nat Geo TV” and “Project Columbia” — which seeks to inspire kids and their parents to get off the couch and into the action, working cooperatively with their favorite characters to have fun and learn at the same time.

Xbox 360 is filming a season of interactive shows in partnership with Sesame Street production, bringing a whole new level of interactivity to educational television with “Kinect Sesame Street TV.” With interactive versions of shows from the current television season, new content written and filmed just for Kinect and access to classic clips from the “Sesame Street” archive, “Kinect Sesame Street TV” is bringing educational television to life.

“Kinect Sesame Street TV” and “Kinect Nat Geo TV” transform interactive television, blending play and television experiences to evolve children’s traditional watching habits and promote active and dynamic on-screen engagements. Kids and families can jump into the action with this next generation of TV entertainment, helping Elmo and Cookie Monster with tasks on Sesame Street and exploring the natural world with Nat Geo WILD TV shows — using full-body and voice recognition.

Along with these two new shows, Microsoft also “Project Columbia,” another experience being designed in collaboration with the Sesame Workshop Curriculum Team, encourages a love for books and changes the way children read. This new portal allows children to play an active role in bringing stories to life — interacting with words and illustrations and immersing themselves in the story. By using the multisensory and active nature of Kinect, the power of play can help emphasize understanding and the meaning of what is written, not just decode it. With titles such as “Project Columbia,” Xbox 360 is just beginning to scratch the surface of what is possible.

We expect to learn more about these new experiences as we move closer to 2012.