What was the name of the Microsoft research project that led to the Kinect?

The Microsoft research project that led to the Kinect was called Project Natal.

Project Natal was Microsoft's codename for a motion-sensing system designed for the Xbox 360. Microsoft presented it publicly at the 2009 Electronic Entertainment Expo, where demonstrations showed players controlling games through body movement, gestures, and voice rather than a handheld controller. The project was later renamed Kinect before its commercial launch.

The codename referred to Natal, Brazil, the birthplace of Microsoft engineer Alex Kipman. Kipman also connected the name with the Latin word “natal,” meaning related to birth, reflecting Microsoft's hope that the technology would bring new audiences to gaming.

Kinect combined an RGB camera, infrared depth sensing, and microphones. Its first-generation hardware used technology from the Israeli company PrimeSense and could identify body positions for real-time skeletal tracking. Kinect launched for Xbox 360 in November 2010 and later received an improved Xbox One version.

Project Spartan was an early codename for Microsoft's Edge browser, while Project Scorpio referred to an Xbox console development name. Neither was connected to Kinect.