Microsoft Kinect research centre opens in Melbourne
Researchers and academics will explore uses for social interactive technologies at a new $8 million research centre launched today at the University of Melbourne.
Researchers and academics will explore uses for social interactive technologies at a new $8 million research centre launched today at the University of Melbourne.
When Microsoft launched Kinect for the Xbox 360, it intended the peripheral -- which is capable of full-body motion tracking for multiple simultaneous users -- to be used for games and media playback.
Microsoft's Kinect for Xbox 360 ditched handheld controllers for gestures and sound, but natural user interfaces don't have to be restricted to video games.
Microsoft's official blog has announced that a free, "non-commercial" Windows SDK for developing for applications using the company's Kinect motion sensing system will be available for download "this spring" (that's our autumn for the hemispherically challenged).
So, you want to play some Call Of Duty on your PC? You could do that the old fashioned way, or you could spice things up a little by hooking your PC up to Microsoft's Kinect and Nintendo's Wii Remote for some added FPS awesomeness, One avid gamer has done just that, sharing the impressive results on YouTube for all to see.
The gossip blogs had a field day a few weeks ago, homing in on a patent filing unearthed by GoRumors that implied Microsoft's Kinect motion-control camera for the Xbox 360 might recognize sign language.
Microsoft officially renamed Project Natal, the full-body motion control system for the Xbox 360, Kinect on Sunday evening during a kick-off event for the E3 2010 trade show. The event wasn't a keynote presentation, but a Kinect-themed 45-minute theatrical performance by Cirque du Soleil. The show featured a 76-person cast of "dancers, muscians, acrobats and clowns," 25-foot high projection screens above the stage and a 9-foot elephant puppet. The performance was also interspersed with brief demos of upcomong Kinect game titles