Microsoft's Avatar Kinect is coming free of charge to Xbox 360 owners with Kinect sensors and Xbox Live Gold memberships this spring. The announcement was made at the Consumer Electronics show where CEO Steve Ballmer appeared in avatar form and promised that the company would make entertainment, "more interactive, more social, and more fun" and after viewing the demo, you'll probably agree that they've done just that.

Do you like chatting online? Gone are the days of slow loading chatroom pages that needed to be refreshed and scrolled. Instead, you'll be able to chat in style in a backdrop of your choosing with an avatar that not only resembles you, but can mimic your motions. No more need to express yourself by typing "LOL" or using a smiley face, the Kinect can detect your facial expressions so that you can smile by simply smiling. You could choose a sports backdrop from one of the 15 offered and get the guys together to discuss the football game, or choose a talk show setting and pretend that you're Oprah Winfrey. Doesn't that sound like fun?