UPDATE 2-Microsoft unveils new Xbox technology, enlists Facebook

* Microsoft introduces "Project Natal"

* Controller-free technology for Xbox 360 game system

* Microsoft integrates Facebook, Twitter into Xbox Live (Recasts; adds Project Natal details, executive comment)

By Franklin Paul

LOS ANGELES, June 1 (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O) on Monday offered a glimpse into a future where the Xbox 360 console is the centerpiece of any living room, and games, social interaction and communications are controlled with the wave of a hand.

At a star-studded event at the annual E3 video game conference that drew appearances by Paul McCartney and Steven Spielberg, the company unveiled "Project Natal," which uses a camera to track a user's movements via full skeletal mapping. It also recognizes voices and vocal commands.

The technology obviates the need for a controller or remote device to enable a player for instance to drive a car in a game, interact with a character on screen or show pictures and information to other Xbox 360 users over the Internet.

"You are the controller," Shane Kim, Microsoft's vice president of strategy and business development for videogames, said in an interview in Los Angeles.

"That's a very powerful piece of technology -- full body gesture tracking, not just two hands."