More than 60 robotics teams to compete in "Rebound Rumble" format – March 16-18, 2012 at Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York

New York, NY – March 6, 2012 – Video games and real-life robotics are about to collide, as FIRST Robotics teams prepare to compete using Xbox 360 Kinect Controllers at the New York City FIRST® Robotics Competition, held on March 16-18, 2012 at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York, NY.

"We designed Kinect to make entertainment more simple and more approachable," said Alex Kipman, GM, Hardware Incubation for Xbox at Microsoft in the FIRST® Robotics Competition Kickoff Video, aired on January 9, 2012.  "(The) technology has so much potential uses beyond the living room.  I'm very much looking forward to seeing what (the teams) do with it with (their) robots at the FIRST Robotics Competition."

During the FIRST Robotics Competition, alliance teams will have the option of supplementing one of their robots' autonomous routines so that a team member can be the controller.  By doing so, for the first 15 seconds, the combination of the Xbox 360 Kinect and the alliance robot forms a Hybrid, which the driver will be able to control through a series of motions.  After 15 seconds, conventional controls kick in and the alliance driver then comes back to help the team.

The Microsoft Xbox 360 Kinect is just one of the exciting new additions to the FIRST Robotics Competition and the "Rebound Rumble" format.  For a complete video of how the Xbox 360 Kinect will be used to control robots at the competition, visit the link below:

For more information about New York City FIRST, and the FIRST Robotics Competition, visit http://www.nycfirst.org.