Las Vegas ( CNN ) -- Microsoft on Wednesday announced plans to redefine television as a medium that viewers can control by waving their hands and talking rather than clicking on remotes . In a speech to open the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas , company CEO Steve Ballmer also said he aims to make TV more social -- letting viewers chat with each other as avatars in virtual settings and place live bets on sporting events from the TV screen . Perhaps it 's time to say goodbye to the old-fashioned couch potato . At the center of this new vision for the living room is the Xbox 360 , Microsoft 's internet-connected gaming system that , thanks to an add-on called Kinect , can read and interpret players ' motions . `` Your Xbox is becoming the hub of your living room , '' he said . `` It is your gaming system . It is your movies . It is your TV experience . '' Ballmer announced an update to that system that lets Kinect 's cameras read facial expressions and mouth movements in addition to what their arms and legs are doing . Called `` Avatar Kinect , '' this new feature , which is due out in the spring , will allow friends to meet up as avatars -- or video-game likenesses of themselves -- in virtual settings . A demo of this feature showed avatars chatting at a virtual-world tailgate while sitting in digital , plaid lawn chairs . In another demo , female avatars got together on a neon set , as if they were collaborating on an online talk show . Kinect 's cameras watch the friends from the top of their TVs and translates their facial expressions into the digital hangout . `` As you can see now Kinect can track features like your smile , your laugh and even the raise of your eyebrows , '' Ballmer said , offering a demo of himself as a bald avatar -- his digital eyebrows bouncing up and down . Ballmer described these virtual meet-ups as a `` new way to socialize . '' But , even during his speech , some Twitter users wrote they found that idea downright creepy . `` This seems unhealthy , '' one Twitter user wrote . `` Will it also track Eye Winks ? or false eyelashes ? What about coloured contact lens ? '' wrote another . Others wrote that they 're fine with non-Microsoft devices controlling their living room electronics experience . `` Sorry Ballmer , my PS3 is the hub of my living room , '' one @ cnntech Twitter follower wrote , referencing the Sony gaming system . The Avatar Kinect feature is available only to people who pay a subscription fee for an Xbox Live membership , which costs about $ 60 per year . Even without the avatars , TV is getting more social as it brings elements of the internet into the living room , Ballmer said . Microsoft announced a partnership with ESPN , for instance , that lets people watch the BCS college football championship game over Xbox Live . Viewers can chat with friends on the TV screen during the game and place non-monetary bets about who they think will win . They can see how their predictions stack up against that of their friends and the Xbox Live community at large . Football fans would be ranked according to success , allowing sports fans to `` earn their bragging rights , '' said Ron Forbes , from Microsoft 's interactive entertainment division . `` Now I can make my picks and trash talk as I 'm watching the game , '' he said . `` Not on e-mail , not over text -- right in my living room on the TV . '' This trend of internet-enabled , or `` connected '' TV is set to be a major theme of this year 's CES , where TV makers from Panasonic to Sony are announcing app stores and other features that are designed to bring social media and Web experiences to TV . Some of these companies work internet features directly into the television instead of requiring a separate gadget , as is the case with Microsoft 's Xbox . Others , like the Yap.tv app for the Apple iPad , aim to let another device provide a social experience that can supplement live TV viewing . The idea of internet TV has been tried many times before but has never gone fully mainstream . But Microsoft 's internet-TV system does do one thing other do n't -- full-body motion control . The company highlighted this point repeatedly , announcing partnerships , for instance , with Netflix and HuluPlus that let Xbox Kinect users control those video apps by waiving their hands and talking to the system to select and play movies . It 's a `` new world of controller-free entertainment that you can not find anywhere else , '' Forbes said . The company said it had sold 8 million Kinect sensors in 60 days , beating its goal of selling 5 million during that timeframe . The keynote address also highlighted other Microsoft efforts , including Windows Phone 7 and the Windows PC operating system , which is in the process of being upgraded to work on a range of devices , including buzz-worthy tablet computers . Microsoft is widely criticized as being behind the curve on developing an operating system for tablets . The company promised an update to its mobile Windows Phone 7 operating system that will add copy-paste functionality and the ability to switch between apps more quickly . Those features are already available from the two hottest smartphone ecosystems : the Apple iOS and Google Android . Some bloggers and wrote that Microsoft hid its skeletons in the closet during the speech -- straying from tablets and smartphones , which are big topics with other companies . But Ballmer said Microsoft is looking to the future -- and that will include all tech platforms , not just personal computers . The company aims to `` redefine what is really possible '' with technology , he said .
Microsoft CEO Steve Case said he wants to make it more social . Kinect update lets its users read facial expressions and mouth movements . Kinect will read facial expressions on digital devices . Some Twitter users wrote they found that feature downright annoying .