After our scoop a few weeks ago that the Xbox 360 webcam’s release was drawing near, Xbox.com now shows an interview with the man behind the camera, discussing specs and possible applications.

Kumar Banerjee points out what the Xbox Live Camera, as the product is officially to be called, is capable of doing. First of all, the camera does all of its image and video processing itself, thus avoiding using too much bandwidth for its 30fps feed. Secondly, knowing us gamers, the camera is optimized for low light situations, so you should still be able to get good results when playing Condemned in a dark room. But there is also the microphone, which you can plug into your controller, allowing group chatting unlike the current headset. Together they intend to make video chat and video messaging an integrated part of the Xbox Live Experience.

Most interesting perhaps is Kumar’s reference to gesture gaming:

The camera offers developers the ability to add elements of gameplay that could directly respond to your own actions. For example, imagine controlling a squad of soldiers by silently gesturing where to go, instead of issuing a voice command and alerting nearby guards. This ushers in a new generation of fun online motion detection-enabled games where you use your body to control on-screen characters over Xbox Live.

Indeed, who needs a Revolution controller to do that? We’ll see how it fares when the accessory finds its way into shops, release date is regrettably still unclear.