Posts tagged "Kinect"

Kinect for Windows: How Gaming Tech is Migrating to Business

Kinect for Windows will begin transforming business and retail experiences. Image: Microsoft

Today Microsoft announced the release of its Kinect for Windows commercial development package. It’s not a product that you’re going to buy and place on top of your desktop PC to play Kinect-controlled computer games — at least for now. But in due time, you could begin seeing Kinect-driven Windows applications in a variety of real-world business settings.

Kinect for Windows is designed for commercial applications. This means it’s mostly aimed at developers and businesses looking to utilize Kinect technology in industries such as education, healthcare and retail. The Kinect for Windows bundle costs $250, and includes Kinect sensor hardware optimized for close-proximity gesturing, as well as the Kinect for Windows software development kit.

Last week we learned of a few Windows 8 prototype laptops that had Kinect sensors built-in. On the whole, today’s announcement is unrelated. Craig Eisler, General Manager for Kinect for Windows, told Wired that although developers may end up creating ways to control the Windows 8 interface using Kinect gestures, it would be a challenging feat. “I’m sure people will experiment — they are experimenting with all sorts of things,” Einsler said.

So where will we likely see Kinect for Windows being used? Eisler envisions systems at car dealerships, making it easier to find information about that subcompact you’re interested in. Kinect apps might also appear in retail stores, providing fun, creative, gamey ways to interact with merchandise.

The Kinect SDK has actually been available since last summer, and more than 300 companies have been using it for creative interface development. But until now, developers have had to rely on the Xbox 360 version of the sensor hardware.

Kinect for Windows now makes development easier, offering previously unavailable hardware features. One is called near mode, and it lets the Kinect capture gestures as close as 15.75 inches (40 cm) away. Microsoft has also modified the hardware and system software to be compatible with PCs and USB controllers. A post on Microsoft’s Kinect for Windows blog details all of the new changes to the platform.

Eisler intimated that Kinect for Windows may not always be earmarked for developers and companies. Although the focus on today’s release is for “commercial” applications, some of those applications could certainly bear consumer appeal.

“If neat apps are built that are attractive to a home user, people can certainly buy it,” Eisler said. For example, if you’re into 3D animation, and someone builds a tool using Kinect that lets you perform real-time motion capture, you might be interested in purchasing it and checking it out.

If you’re interested in purchasing Kinect for Windows, you can get it from the Microsoft Store or Amazon.

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Microsoft Kinect Could Make Its Way to Laptops

We could be seeing Kinect gesture-recognition technology embedded in laptops within the next year. Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired.com

The ability to control a Windows desktop with a simple hand gesture could become reality sooner than we once thought.

The Daily got a sneak peek at two Microsoft-developed Windows 8 notebook prototypes with built-in Kinect sensors. The system would allow for gesture recognition in portable devices for the first time. The prototypes “appear to be Asus netbooks” and “feature an array of small sensors stretching over the top of the screen where the webcam would normally be,” The Daily reported.

3-D gesture control on a laptop could offer more interactive, Kinect-style PC gaming, as well as new computer interfaces and ways to control one’s notebook.

Microsoft opened up its Kinect SDK to developers in June, and recently said it would be bringing Kinect to desktop PCs in 2012. The Xbox Kinect console itself is already in 18 million households the world over.

Although Microsoft popularized it, the 3-D gesture recognition space is rapidly becoming a hot area of innovation.

Another company, SoftKinetic, is working on similar technology aimed at the notebook market. Using a different technology than what the Kinect currently incorporates, the SoftKinetic system can sense motion as close as 5.9 inches away. And then there’s LG and Samsung, whose upcoming Smart TVs have taken a cue from Microsoft, and will incorporate Kinect-style gesture recognition, along with other forms of interface control like voice control, and touchscreen remotes.

Although Microsoft is demonstrating and testing this technology, finished Kinect-based portable products may not come straight from Redmond, but rather from developers or OEMs.

Windows 8 is set to debut in beta in February. We should start seeing finished Windows 8 products (notebooks and tablets) arriving toward the middle and end of this year.

via The Daily

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Microsoft Kinect Could Make Its Way Onto Laptops

We could be seeing Kinect gesture-recognition technology embedded in laptops within the next year. Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired.com

The ability to control a Windows desktop with a simple hand gesture could become reality sooner than we once thought.

The Daily got a sneak peek at two Microsoft-developed Windows 8 notebook prototypes with built-in Kinect sensors. The system would allow for gesture recognition in portable devices for the first time. The prototypes “appear to be Asus netbooks” and “feature an array of small sensors stretching over the top of the screen where the webcam would normally be,” The Daily reported.

3D gesture control on a laptop could offer more interactive, Kinect-style PC gaming, as well as new computer interfaces and ways to control one’s notebook.

Microsoft opened up its Kinect SDK to developers in June, and recently said it would be bringing Kinect to desktop PCs in 2012. The Xbox Kinect console itself is already in 18 million households the world over.

Although Microsoft popularized it, the 3D gesture recognition space is rapidly becoming a hot area of innovation.

Another company, SoftKinetic, is working on similar technology aimed at the notebook market. Using a different technology than what the Kinect currently incorporates, the SoftKinetic system can sense motion as close as 5.9 inches away. And then there’s LG and Samsung, whose upcoming Smart TVs have taken a cue from Microsoft, and will incorporate Kinect-style gesture recognition, along with other forms of interface control like voice control, and touchscreen remotes.

Although Microsoft is demonstrating and testing this technology, finished Kinect-based portable products may not come straight from Redmond, but rather from developers or OEMs.

Windows 8 is set to debut in beta in February. We should start seeing finished Windows 8 products (notebooks and tablets) arriving towards the middle and end of this year.

via The Daily

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Upcoming Kinect Development Kit Could Change In-Store Shopping

The Xbox Kinect is Microsoft’s big push into motion-controlled gaming. You don’t even need a controller to play. Just move your hands and feet with gestures that the Kinect understands, and — voilà! — you’re kicking footballs, competing in dance challenges, and shooting down bad guys.

But now, one year since its launch, the Kinect has gone way beyond video games. It could change our retail buying experiences, and reinvent the way we shop.

A commercial version of the Kinect software development kit will be made available in early 2012, Microsoft announced on Monday, opening the door for businesses to create new applications for the popular platform.

“With the Kinect for Windows commercial program, Microsoft hopes that visionaries all over the globe will continue to transform the way we do things with new Kinect-enabled tools,” a Microsoft spokesperson told Wired.com in a statement. Microsoft is currently running a pilot program with more than 200 businesses across more than 20 countries, including partners like Toyota, textbook publisher Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, and digital advertising agency Razorfish.

If all goes as planned, we could see Kinect-based interactions show up at retailers, banks, automotive dealers and other commercial environments. Razorfish, for example, is looking at building kiosks in which customers’ bodies would be scanned in order to try on digital outfits without needing to take off any clothes — so said Razorfish VP of emerging tech Jonathan Hull in an interview with Kotaku. Other applications could include simpler tasks, such as waving one’s hands to navigate an ATM’s menu screens.

Microsoft previously released a non-commercial version of its Kinect SDK in June, encouraging hackers and open software enthusiasts to create off-beat, innovative applications that take advantage of the platform’s motion-sensing capabilities. From gimmicky motion controls for banking software to NSF grant-backed medical research, the non-commercial SDK spurred creative uses of the platform beyond what Microsoft expected.

Kinect first debuted in November of 2010 to much fanfare. The system eschews the traditional button-and-joystick controller scheme, and instead lets users navigate and play games via hands-free motion capture. The system was an instant hit, setting a Guinness World Record for the fastest-selling consumer device ever in the first few days after its release. In March, Microsoft announced it had sold more than 10 million Kinect devices.

Though the hands-free controller has been a fun novelty for gaming enthusiasts, the Kinect’s utility for hardware-modding enthusiasts has been more compelling. The Xbox peripheral is packed with a bevy of sophisticated motion-capturing instruments, including an infrared light emitter to capture the surfaces of items in a room, and a depth camera that builds a 3D model of all the objects captured by infrared.

The Kinect’s relatively low $150 price tag has been even more attractive for budding DIY-ers. Willow Garage — the Silicon Valley robotics outfit known for its robot control operating system — now offers a $500 open-source robotics kit that incorporates the Kinect. The company’s previous version (also pre-Kinect) cost $280,000.

The initial forays into Kinect modification began with the homebrew modding community, spurring a wave of creative software hacks that ranged from Street Fighter games to the intricacies of “boob physics.” (Yes, really.)

Instead of taking action against the hackers or trying to bar hardware nerds from further Kinect mods, Microsoft encouraged development, promising to eventually release SDKs to new segments of would-be Kinect hackers. “Kinect represents the first incarnation of the next big thing in computing — a world where computing is becoming more natural and intuitive,” a Microsoft spokesperson told Bloomberg Businessweek in a statement.

Kinect’s natural progression is to move into the commercial realm. Much like app developers for Apple’s iOS and Google’s Android, the release of the commercial SDK allows third parties to use Microsoft’s technology in bolstering their own brands and services. Partners, however, would use Microsoft’s hardware to augment their own businesses — this rather than providing content to a centralized store. In return, Microsoft would open itself up to untold numbers of potential new hardware purchasing partners.

David Dennis, group program manager of Microsoft’s Xbox team, told Kotaku that Kinect devices could be sold in bulk numbers — the “tens of thousands” — to partner businesses.

Microsoft hasn’t released any hard details on the commercial SDK’s release date beyond “early next year.” So don’t expect to start waving on digital fashion accessories right away.

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Microsoft Releases Xbox Kinect SDK, Hackers Get to Work

Microsoft opened up the Kinect Software Developement Kit to coders everywhere Thursday. (Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired.com)

Microsoft on Thursday released a software development kit for its Kinect gaming system, and hackers are already testing the limits of what the device can do.

After the release of the SDK, Microsoft invited a group of developers to its headquarters in Redmond, Washington to see what kinds of applications they could come up with for the device. Dubbed “Code Camp,” the developers were given 24 hours to create programs that would interact with the Xbox-based motion-sensing device.

Initially released in November of 2010, the Kinect replaces the traditional Xbox controller with the movements of your actual hands, using a camera that translates motion into controlling the videogame you’re playing. The device was a hit for the company; Kinect sales surpassed10 million units in March.

But the Kinect’s release proved to be bigger than just a hands-free videogame controller. The device’s motion controller opens doors to application across all sorts of fields, from major advances in robotics to medical research. Until now, sensors and cameras used for capturing the motion of 3-D objects were either cumbersome and expensive, or cheap and unreliable. At $150, the lightweight, compact Kinect is capable of capturing real-time 3-D motion at the perfect price.

Initial Kinect application ideas ranged from the bland — such as a human-controlled version of Atari’s Pong — to the nerdy — like the augmented-reality program that drops a lightsaber in your left hand.

The coolest by far, however, was the “Quadracopter” hack, which lets you move a four-propeller-powered helicopter through the air with a mere flick of your wrists, seen below:

Coders can access the Kinect’s video, microphone and depth sensors to build on the low-level data streams taken in by the hardware. They can also access some of the more high-level capabilities like noise and echo cancellation, and skeletal tracking makes gesture-navigation in applications possible.

For major platforms, launching a software development kit is a big deal. When launching a new piece of hardware like the Kinect, building a robust ecosystem of applications is important to attract potential buyers. In order for that to happen, hardware companies need to court the developer community, enticing coders to build different programs for the new device. Recently, Apple has seen the most success in this realm, as its iOS platform contains over 500,000 applications available for download in its App Store. Similarly, Android is catching up with over 200,000 in the Android Market.

What’s difficult to imagine, however, is how Microsoft can build its developer base of Kinect coders when there seems to be little financial incentive for them to join. As the webzine Make points out, Microsoft’s developer agreement terms essentially state “you can’t start a business, make money, sell services or consulting” using the SDK.

“Under the terms of the license for this SDK Beta, you cannot deploy applications created with the SDK Beta for use in your business operations,” according to the noncommercial-use terms Microsoft makes developers agree to. “Even if no fee is charged or received in connection with such use, such use in a business is still a commercial use and is not permitted under the SDK Beta license.”

This is arguably one of the biggest stumbling blocks for Android, which is being beaten out by iOS in terms of making developers more money.

Still, the impetus for Microsoft’s SDK release began with amateur coders creating homebrewed hacks with the Kinect for the fun of it. If opening up the SDK leads to more of this, Kinect’s platform could grow much larger.

Of course, Microsoft’s SDK release is initially available to Windows 7 developers only.

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Gadget Lab Podcast: iPad 2, Kinect Hacks, Zombie Ants

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In this week’s Gadget Lab podcast, we kick off the show with a quick look at some weird fungus that’s apparently turning certain ants into zombies. Gross and awesome.

Moving on to gadget land, we waste some time playing with Zibits, puny robots controlled with a two-directional “joystick.” They aren’t very useful, but they’re charmingly simple.

In more serious news, we cover the highlights of Apple’s new iPad 2 tablet computer launched this week. It’s thinner, faster and lighter than the previous iPad, with the same $500 starting price.

The iPad 2 also includes two cameras: one on front for video-conferencing and the other on back for snapping photos, which are a neat addition, but they look like they’re pretty low-quality cameras.

Apple is also selling a pretty interesting protective cover for the iPad 2 called the Smart Cover, which has a magnet to clip the accessory right on to the side of the tablet. It’s a neat cover, but we’re more interested in Apple’s business strategy in the accessories game than in the product itself.

We wrap up the podcast with some of our favorite hacks for the Microsoft Kinect. Some clever nerds have hacked Microsoft’s Kinect controller to use it to control music, give themselves boob implants and create 3-D models, among other applications.

Like the show? You can also get the Gadget Lab video podcast on iTunes, or if you don’t want to be distracted by our unholy on-camera talent, check out the Gadget Lab audio podcast. Prefer RSS? You can subscribe to the Gadget Lab video or audio podcast feeds.

http://downloads.wired.com/podcasts/assets/gadgetlabaudio/GadgetLabAudio0106.mp3

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10 Hacks That Make Microsoft’s Kinect a Killer Controller

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3D-Print Yourself With Kinect

“Fabricate Yourself” is like a 3-D photo-booth. Using a Microsoft Kinect, anyone can hit a button and have a 3-D model of themselves printed right then. The project, headed by Karl Willis, removes the arcane intricacies of CAD software and replaces them with something anybody can pick up and play with.

Presented at the Tangible, Embedded and Embodied Interaction Conference, the setup turns a Kinect into 3-D scanner. The Kinect is hooked up to a Mac, and users can pose in front of it and see a real-time wire-frame representation on-screen. When they see what they like, the hit a button and they are captured in an STL (stereolithography) file. This file is sent to the 3-D printer, where a small, low-resolution model is finally spat out.

At the conference, the models were limited to 3 x 3 cm to keep the machine running fast. This used just a quarter of the Kinect’s resolution, but the results have a rather cute, jaggedy 8-bit look to them. The cuteness was also upped by printing the models onto snap-together jigsaw tiles so they could be combined into one big mural (or even joined together to spell out words).

Taking the high-tech and making it easy and fun to use is clearly awesome. I am slightly disappointed with the conference-goers lack of nerd imagination, though. I have studied the resulting models closely and nowhere do I see the most obvious pose, and the first thing I would do if I could play with this machine: hands held up like Han Solo as he was frozen in carbonite.

Fabricate Yourself [Interactive Fabrication via i.Materialise. Thanks, Joris!]

Photos: Interactive Fabrication

See Also:

• Robotic Spider Melds Legos and 3-D Printing
• HP Plans Line of (Relatively) Affordable 3-D Printers
• Open Source Guitar Kit With 3-D Printed Body
• 3-D Printing, Now in Stainless Steel
• The Secret World of Printing Concept Cars in 3-D

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GeekBeat.TV – iPad 2 Rumors, Amazon’s Bad Gift Blocker, Play World of Warcraft on Kinect, Ski Bike, DIY Bike …

A rumor round-up for the next iPad, Amazon patents a way to keep you from getting stuff you don’t want, play World of Warcraft with your Kinect, a bike for getting down ski slopes, a simple trick to give your bike snow tires, and conductive pins to make any gloves touchscreen-friendly.

Massive GIVEAWAY! Kinect, iPod Touch, and more!

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