As promised, Microsoft on Wednesday shipped version 1.0 of the Kinect for Windows SDK and runtime and said partners have started selling the Kinect hardware.
View full post on Hardware Systems
The Windows release of Kinect is coming up in a couple days, but for most people that won’t be a major event: the Kinect they have is sitting on their TV or in a drawer, waiting to be taken out for an impromptu Dance Central 2 party. Of the 10 million Kinects out there, the only ones connected to computers are the ones being fiddled with by the various hackers and students making science projects out the things.
But according to the Daily, Microsoft is hoping to remedy this particular situation by building Kinect sensors right into your laptops. TechCrunch alum Matt Hickey got to handle a pair of prototypes, which were confirmed to be official, not just one of the many experiments that hide within Microsoft’s various lairs.
Unfortunately the laptops were not ready for their debut and no pictures seem to have been permitted. But they are described as netbook-like, with a number of smaller sensors instead of a webcam, and what could be an IR LED at the bottom of the screen.
The inclusion of depth-sensing cameras on a laptop is an interesting idea, and if they can drive the price of the sensor array down, it might become a standard feature. Microsoft has clearly also been focusing on miniaturizing the Kinect hardware, as the bulky original would seem somewhat out of place on a petite netbook. Whether this smaller sensor set has the same capabilities as the larger isn’t clear and wasn’t discussed.
A smaller Kinect would also suggest that Microsoft’s next console, rumored to have Kinect built in, is nearing readiness. While many gaming industry insiders have discounted the idea that the next generation of consoles will be announced this year, the rumor mill says otherwise.
View full post on TechCrunch » Gadgets
Microsoft will build a Kinect device specifically for use with PCs, as the company prepares to launch a program to support commercial products developed for Kinect and Windows.
View full post on Hardware Systems
Microsoft on Friday announced a program designed to help 10 developers or startups launch businesses around products for Kinect, the controller that senses motion and voice.
View full post on Hardware Systems
It’s been a while since we’ve covered a Kinect hack here at GeekTech, but the Kinect BeatWheel is too awesome to miss.
Developed by Ryan Challinor for a Music Hackday in Boston, BeatWheel aims to please the music-producing geek and DJ in you. The hack controls which looping-sample beat is playing and how with a movement of your arm.
It works by cutting up a sample into eight note slices (although you can make the loop segments longer if desired) and displayed into a circle placed around your body. You control the playing segment (indicated by a green marker) by moving your left hand (shown by a red marker)–rotating it in a clockwise fashion keeps the track playing over. A blue indicator signifies the tempo, which you can adjust to your liking.
However, if you deviate from the clockwise movement, you can create some cool remixes. Rotate your arm anti-clockwise, and the track plays backwards. Keep your hand still and the beat repeats the area your hand is resting over (it’s kind of like scratching). The hack supports multiple loops and the vocal tracks also sound clear, so your imagination can run wild you mix.
The hack was created using Synapse for Kinect (also developed by Ryan) and MaxMSP, which are both designed specifically for creating and controlling musical and interactive projects.
Check out the video below for a few samples of remixes created with BeatWheel, and try not to imagine yourself as the greatest DJ (in your home at least) going.
[Music HackDay via Engadget]
Like this? You might also enjoy…
Get your GeekTech on: Twitter – Facebook – RSS | Tip us off
Microsoft’s in-house Kinect Fun Labs have been working on their own hacks–and now, thanks to their work, you can make your own virtual talk show with Avatar Kinect.
Your personalized or scanned avatar can get into groups of seven to have meet-and-greets in 24 virtual stages ranging from a late-night talk show set, to outer space, to a sports tailgate party. To make talking avatars more sociable, the Fun Labs tweaked the Kinect to track facial expressions. So every eyebrow raise, smile, and belly laugh is translated to your avatar.
Avatar Kinect is free for Xbox LIVE Gold subscribers who have Kinect and it’s available to non-Gold-subscribers for 45 days and 250 Microsoft Points. Kinect Sparkler, a piece of software that let’s Kinect users do light painting on 3D images will come later this week.
[Microsoft News Center via Joystiq]
Like this? You might also enjoy…
Get your GeekTech on: Twitter - Facebook - RSS | Tip us off
Since Microsoft released its Kinect accessory for Xbox 360, it’s become the “it” gadget for hackers. And we’ve seen so many hacks for it since its introduction that, well, we’ve kind of lost count. So to better keep track of it all, we’ve put together this catalog of all the Kinect hacks we’ve covered here on GeekTech.
Feel free to bookmark this page; it’ll be updated regularly as we cover more Kinect hacks. It’s listed in reverse-chronological order, so the newest items will appear at the top. Enjoy.
Last Updated: March 5, 2011
Kinect Hack Class Project Makes You See Ghosts
Mar 3, 2011: Over the course of about two weeks, Nisha Kurani, John Horstman, and their fellow students in Carnegie Mellon’s Special Topics in Interactive Art & Computational Design course hacked Microsoft Kinect cameras. Not for fun, mind you, but for class credit.
Comic Kinect Turns Human Interaction Into a Comic Book Fight Scene
Mar 2, 2011: Life would be better with flashy comic book sound effects. At least, that’s what one group of students thinks. Four students at Carnegie Mellon University worked together to create “Comic Kinect,” a Kinect hack that adds comic book-esque sound effects to ordinary contact. The software tracks users’ skeletons, and then adds graphics where they contact each other to simulate the look of a fight.
Kinect Powered Robot Could Help Earthquake Victims
Mar 1, 2011: A Kinect-powered robot could soon be helping locate earthquake victims, thanks to the engineering ingenuity of a group of U.K. students. The rescue-robot, developed at the University of Warwick by the geeky Warwick Mobile Robotics (WMR) team, could help significantly reduce the costs involved in earthquake rescue attempts.
Kinect Hack Prints Miniature Caricatures in 3D
Feb 28, 2011: There have been plenty of cool Kinect hacks since Microsoft released the motion-sensitive device, so it’s no surprise that the hacks are coming thick and fast, like this really cool 3D printout puzzle piece of yourself.
Kinect Hack Lets You Impersonate An Octopus Impersonating Humans
Feb 25, 2011: Despite Microsoft’s initial disapproval of amateur hackers tampering with the Kinect software and developing custom drivers, the developers behind indie game OctoDad have managed to hack their quirky physics-based puzzle game to allow full motion control; given that OctoDad is all about acting like an uncoordinated octopus strapped inside a human suit, we thought it might be fun to showcase the game in action. Despite blizzard conditions in Illinois the development team at DePaul University were kind enough to record a short video for us of their hack in action.
Android, Kinect Hacked to Work Together: Match Made in Geek Heaven or an Unholy Comingling?
Feb 17, 2011: Using openFrameworks and an Armadillo 500 FX Android tablet, HirotakaSter got the table to show the video feed from the Kinect’s camera. While this setup isn’t doing much more than display video at the moment, we’re pretty excited at the prospect of having a portable Android/Kinect system for hacks while on the run.
Go Super Saiyan, Dragonball Z-Style With Kinect Hack
Some hax0rs have figured out how to control the Kinect’s motors from Windows, the first step in eventual total control of the new Microsoft gaming product. Not much else to say right now except that this demo shows the motors inside the Kinect interacting with a small app on the desktop. Could this be the first step on the road to the $2,000 bounty for an open-source Kinect?
View full post on CrunchGear
There’s a little bluster going on regarding this scanned manual for the Kinect, mainly over the fact that you need to be six feet from the sensor, or eight feet if there are two players. While that may indeed disqualify some setups from using it, it’s not like the Move and Wii don’t have their own idiosyncrasies.
Six feet was about as far as I have to stand from the Move to play Sports Champions, though admittedly EyePet has a much shorter range. The Wii, too, has an optimum distance around there.
Other tips include not putting the Kinect on your console, changing clothes if it can’t see you (why are you wearing the same color as your wallpaper?), and some other random technical stuff. It’s about what you expect. For a motion-based gaming system, you need space, people! I wish they had a wider angle and faster lens too, but hey, they’ve got to save something for the Kinect 2, right?
[via 1up]
View full post on CrunchGear
We heard about the 4GB Kinect Xbox bundle back in July, with its $299 price and matte finish. Rumors of a 250GB bundle proliferated after a few box shots made it look likely.
That 250GB bundle was recently spotted in Australia and appears to be a shiny, rather than matte bundle. In addition to the larger hard drive, the 250GB bundle will also include a headset, and come pre-installed with demos and apparently a game. No word on pricing of course or an international release schedule but it is probable they’ll have something for us by the holidays.
View full post on CrunchGear
Recent Comments