Kinect For Windows Launches 2012: Aimed At PC Enthusiasts and Businesses

[qubit]

The XBOX 360 Kinect motion tracking device has been a huge hit, especially with the modding community, who have got it to do things that Microsoft never envisaged for it. This appears to have paid off, because in an MSDN blog, Microsoft announced that in 2012, they will launch a version tailor made for a Windows PC. It's very much the same as the 360 version, except for things like firmware adjustments, a shorter USB cable for greater signal reliability and a small dongle to "improve coexistence with other USB peripherals". For developers, the new firmware "enables the depth camera to see objects as close as 50 centimeters in front of the device without losing accuracy or precision, with graceful degradation down to 40 centimeters." Also, the Software Development Kit (SDK) has seen numerous upgrades. There's significant interest from businesses too, so Microsoft "are proud to be helping those companies to explore the profound implications NUI has for the future." Finally, the Kinect Accelerator incubation project run by Microsoft BizSpark will be giving 10 tech-oriented companies $20,000 to explore innovative new ways of using Kinect. Applications close on January 25th, 2012. Official forum: General Discussion-Kinect for Windows SDK



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[Frogger]

General Discussion—Kinect for Windows SDK

http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/kinectsdk/threads

 

[erocker]

Awesome! Hopefully the tech will work good. I'd love to have head tracking in FPS games witth this.

 

[qubit]

General Discussion—Kinect for Windows SDK

http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/kinectsdk/threads

Superb find - I've added it to the news story.

 

[AphexDreamer]

Finally!

Always wanted to play the dam thing but didn't want to get an unnecessary xbox with their unnecessary online fees.

 

[theJesus]

Awesome! Hopefully the tech will work good. I'd love to have head tracking in FPS games witth this.

Do you sit with your head at least 50cm away from the monitor? I just measured and my head is roughly 30cm from my monitor. I wouldn't feel comfortable 50cm from an average-sized (19"-23") monitor; it would have to be at least a 27" or 30" monitor.

 

[CDdude55]

Never going to buy this shit. My fat minority ass will be staying in my chair solely using a KB/M unless something creative gets done with Kinect where in which i don't have to wave my arms around. Create some great ''hardcore'' games that implement Kinect in a meaningful way then we'll talk.

 

[HossHuge]

This will be the touchscreen (without touching the screen) for PC users.

There's significant interest from businesses too, so Microsoft "are proud to be helping those companies to explore the profound implications NUI has for the future." Finally, the Kinect Accelerator incubation project run by Microsoft BizSpark will be giving 10 tech-oriented companies $20,000 to explore innovative new ways of using Kinect. Applications close on January 25th, 2012.

This quote literally means anything we can do to make money and help you make money, we’ll do it. And we will be proud of ourselves.

 

[qubit]

This quote literally means anything we can do to make money and help you make money, we’ll do it. And we will be proud of ourselves.

That sounds about right. Also, Microsoft were somewhat evasive with the specifics of what uses companies will actually put this too and are giving away all that money to help them develop the product, which suggests that business use for the device is more speculative than they're letting on. I certainly can't think of any business use for it - but I'm hardly an expert on this gadget either, so don't quote me.

 

[Trackr]

Forget head-tracking. I want EYE tracking.

What do I do in an FPS? I move my eyes around while my head stays put and I try to use the mouse to mimic my eye movements.

We need something like that. Wherever you look, it looks.

 

[joellim]

No I think this will technology will be BIG. imagine the kinect being able to detect people walking past a large screen display and being able to interact with the person to review the product advertised.

Or imagine a clothes company automatically displaying your image with their latest clothes design as you walk past.

or imagine a new housing development where you can pinch and zoom into the design of their new house.

all this without any touch, clicks or buttons presses.

or imagine at all the games in the arcade that can be made by using the kinect technology.



as for me....its just a replacement for my wireless mouse so I can be even better couch potato!

 

[joellim]

Do you sit with your head at least 50cm away from the monitor? I just measured and my head is roughly 30cm from my monitor. I wouldn't feel comfortable 50cm from an average-sized (19"-23") monitor; it would have to be at least a 27" or 30" monitor.

if you're using eyefinity like me, when you play games, you'll automatically sit further away from the screen because you'll want to be able to see all 3 screens clearly. I do that when I play racing sims and strategy games, that will be roughly 50cm then.

but when you're typing or playing FPS with a keyboard and mouse, I agree you will be only 30cm away from the screen.

 

[cadaveca]

I am 58cm from my screens. Sounds great.

 

[DannibusX]

Porn will never be the same.

 

[joellim]

Porn will never be the same.

how can i miss that! interactive pr0n! also useful for p0rn games too...hehee...no more fumbling around with a mouse and keyboard!

 

[theJesus]

how can i miss that! interactive pr0n! also useful for p0rn games too...hehee...no more fumbling around with a mouse and keyboard!

They already have special "controllers" for that actually lol

 

[AsRock]

Awesome! Hopefully the tech will work good. I'd love to have head tracking in FPS games witth this.

There is already a head tracking hardware and it's called Track IR
http://www.naturalpoint.com/trackir/

And it kicks ass.

 

[joellim]

There is already a head tracking hardware and it's called Track IR
http://www.naturalpoint.com/trackir/

And it kicks ass.

I guess with the kinect technology, all the things we mentioned above will all integrated into a single tech making it accessible to everyone, that should bring the price down.

 

[AsRock]

I guess with the kinect technology, all the things we mentioned above will all integrated into a single tech making it accessible to everyone, that should bring the price down.

TIR is worth every penny.. And their support is the best i seen.

TIR is accessible to anyone who wants it. And lets face it kinect is not all that cheap either. And you can get a TIR4 for $100, you only need TIR5 if you want the latest and greatest.

 

[entropy13]

Porn will never be the same.

Japan's been doing that for a long time already with the Kinect. There's some breast handling and groping demos already.

 

[NC37]

Never going to buy this shit. My fat minority ass will be staying in my chair solely using a KB/M unless something creative gets done with Kinect where in which i don't have to wave my arms around. Create some great ''hardcore'' games that implement Kinect in a meaningful way then we'll talk.

My fat minority ass salutes you sir!!

 

[btarunr]

I always wanted to flip the bird at dialog boxes to respond as "cancel" or "no".

 

[dj-electric]

Amen to that bta...
I wonder how overclocking tools for kinect will look like, people would be fing rain-dancing...

 

[mediasorcerer]

What would happen if hackers get into your machine and use the kinect to watch you /record you?-just wondering, it may be good for flight sims, although there is already ir head tracking that some use in sims like flying games etc.

I dont know, sometimes i wonder where all this tech is heading.
Maybe if they combine it with 3d , that could be pretty interesting, so far tho, it hasnt interested me that much, ive had consoles both sony and xbox, but the pc is enough these days.

 

[theJesus]

What would happen if hackers get into your machine and use the kinect to watch you /record you?-just wondering

You don't need kinect for that, just any webcam.