Microsoft's NUads on Xbox LIVE officially roll out today, making the company's new interactive TV ad format available for sale to advertisers. Microsoft said that Toyota, Unilever and Samsung Mobile USA were the first brands to develop NUads campaigns that would appear on Xbox LIVE this fall. NUads advertisements transform standard 30-second TV spots into actionable experiences using the power of voice and gesture controls of Kinect for Xbox 360.

"NUads marks the beginning of a new era for TV advertising. It delivers the one thing traditional TV advertising is missing - engagement," said Ross Honey, general manager of Xbox LIVE Entertainment and Advertising. "We developed NUads to breathe new life into the standard 30-second spot. With NUads, brands can get real-time feedback from audiences, making TV advertising actionable for the first time."

Microsoft released a sneak peek of some of the first NUads that will air on Xbox LIVE this fall.

For example, Toyota's "Reinvented" ad campaign premiered during Super Bowl XLVI, promoting the reinvention of the 2012 Camry. Today, Toyota is reinventing that campaign for Xbox LIVE, adding a layer of interactivity enabled by NUads. In this version of the "Reinvented" ad, Toyota asks viewers what they would like to see reinvented. Viewers can then respond using Kinect-powered voice or gesture controls. This gives Toyota valuable feedback it can use for its next campaign.

The first NUads format to roll out offers polling capabilities that allow advertisers to ask a multiple-choice question during the airing of a 30-second spot. Users can enter the poll with a wave of a hand or a voice command while viewing the commercial. Users get a real-time tally of the answers so they can see how other Xbox LIVE subscribers are voting, and advertisers get real-time feedback from users to help inform future campaigns.