Kinect Hacked with Brain Scans for Neurosurgeon Augmented Reality

The Microsoft Kinect has been hacked to do all sorts of things, and while some of the hacks are for the good of humankind, most are pretty superfluous. But the Microsoft Research Cambridge team has recently put together a Kinect demo which could provide neurosurgeons with interactive 3D visuals which could help them save lives in the operating room.

kinect brain scan

The prototype system shows how a Kinect could help provide augmented reality visuals which overlay the patient’s MRI or CAT scan data with the real world. This would allow doctors to move around the patients head and visualize problem areas non-invasively, and to help them map out a better action plan before starting surgery.

The system uses a touchscreen tablet with a Kinect duct taped to the back of it, tied to a custom application through the Kinect Fusion API. In the video below shot by IEEE Spectrum, Microsoft Research’s Ben Glocker demonstrates how the system works:

While this particular system isn’t exactly the most portable, it’s still quite impressive, and you could see how combining Kinect tech with some sort of head-mounted display could really change the way surgery is performed. Now if only they could work out a way that you don’t have to lie in that noisy and claustrophobic MRI machine.

Kinect Fusion-powered concept demos AR brain models for neurosurgeons (video)

Kinect Fusion-powered concept demos AR brain models for neurosurgeons (video)

Microsoft has talked up its Kinect Fusion tool since 2011, but it took some time at TechFest this week to show off how the software could be useful in operating rooms. For those who need a refresher, Redmond’s solution can create 3D models of whatever an attached Kinect sensor lays eyes on, but in this instance it was leveraged to create an augmented reality experience. Using an off-the-shelf Kinect camera duct-taped to a tablet, Microsoft researchers layered a model of a brain onto a mannequin’s head, making its would-be mind viewable on the slate from different angles. Ballmer and Co. reckon that neurosurgeons could use the technique to visualize what’s in a patient’s noggin and plan how they’ll guide their scalpel. Word that Fusion would come to the Kinect for Windows SDK first surfaced last year, but Microsoft now says it’ll hit the dev kit’s next release, which should arrive shortly. Head past the break to catch a video of the medical concept app in action.

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Source: IEEE Spectrum

Kinect for Windows implementing hand gestures and 3D mapping

Some great things are in store for Kinect for Windows. Microsoft is very close to releasing a hand-gesture recognition feature in its Kinect software that will allow its users to manipulate their PC much more efficiently. The new development allows the Kinect to accurately detect and follow your hand movements, and will bring new functionality to developers who want to implement hand gestures in their apps or their games.

Kinect for Windows receiving hand gesture features

Currently, only a couple of simple hand gestures have been featured. There’s the pinch-to-zoom capability that we should all be familiar with. A Kinect developer demonstrated this feature through a maps application. By gripping both his hands, he was able to zoom in and out using the corresponding movements. He also demonstrated that rotating his arms would also rotate the map. The hand gripping motion was shown to also be able to manipulate actions in games like Jetpack Joyride.

Alongside hand gesture recognition, Microsoft discussed Kinect Fusion. Kinect Fusion analyzes the entire environment and objects in the environment to generate a 3D map. It allows users to hold the Kinect and scan objects or rooms in order to form 3D models. This new service will prove to be very useful for 3D printing, scanning buildings, and scanning bodies. It may even provide a new road map for gaming and augment reality apps.

Both of these new features will be included in an upcoming SDK most likely to be released later this month. Developers can get to work implementing these new features and bringing a whole new generation of apps to Kinect for Windows. These new features, combined with the yet-to-be-announced next-gen Kinect sensor should bring a whole new user-experience to PC users.

[via The Verge]


Kinect for Windows implementing hand gestures and 3D mapping is written by Brian Sin & originally posted on SlashGear.
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Kinect Will Soon Replace Your Mouse With Your Hands

Kinect Will Soon Replace Your Mouse With Your Hands

Microsoft’s next-generation Xbox is expected to have its Kinect heavily integrated into the system, but the company is looking past the home console market to have computers rely on it as well.

Microsoft’s TechFest is going on this week and the company is showing an updated version of its SDK which will introduce some new hand-gesture functionality to their programs. The new SDK will allow developers to have the user pinch-to-zoom with their hands and the ability to pan around the screen, all of which is done by waving and clenching their hands. Halfbrick’s Jetpack Joyride was demoed featuring the new Kinect SDK in order to show how games can make use of the new technology. (more…)

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: ASUS Transformer AiO: Where Windows 8 Meets Android, Facial Recognition Software Resulted In Over 2,500 Arrests,

Kinect’s New Multitouch Tricks Let You Pinch Thin Air to Zoom

Kinect has already received its fair share of excited attention from developers, but Microsoft is still exploring its limits, too—and has managed to make it respond to mid-air, multitouch gestures. More »

Hand Recognition, Gesture Support Landing On Microsoft Kinect For Windows Soon

kinect-for-windows-sensor

The Kinect is arguably Microsoft’s most important innovation of the past decade, and has done more for changing the nature of computer interaction than pretty much any other recently created input devices. Today, Microsoft Research has demoed how it’s about to get even better, with the addition of hand recognition complete with refined gesture support.

Microsoft is showing off the new features at its TechFest even this week at Redmond HQ, and The Verge has a video of the new capabilities in action. As you can see from the video, you can use pinch-to-zoom, as well as hand gripping motions that allow for panning and scrolling too. The technique employs machine learning to recognize the difference between an open and closed hand, which is then integrated into Windows games and apps.










The video shows navigating maps, as well as playing Jetpack Joyride in Windows 8, and shows how a simple close finger gesture can be recognized as a mouse click essentially, which would be a very handy tool to add to Kinect’s Windows-based powers. The upgraded features are destined for Windows soon (though no specific timeline was given), though sadly there’s nothing to announce yet for bringing the enhanced gesture detection powers to Xbox.

The Kinect will soon have its own fair share of competitors when it comes to gesture-based input for desktop computing. The Leap Motion Controller ships May 13 to pre-order customers, and promises to deliver extremely fine gesture detection on both Windows and OS X, to the point where it should work for virtual painting and drawing applications, with a module much smaller and without the same physical space requirements as the Kinect. The MYO armband from Thalmic labs is also attracting a lot of early attention for its own, body sensor-based gesture control powers.

Microsoft did some terrific ground breaking in this space, but now the company has keep pace with a number of hungry young startups eager to blow it wide open. These new feature additions for Kinect for Windows should help Microsoft keep the competition interesting.

Microsoft Research brings mid-air multitouch to Kinect (video)

Microsoft research project shows hand gesture control

Shortly after the Kinect SDK first launched, it spawned a number of inspired efforts from researchers to make it do more than just track your body. Microsoft Research finally seems to be catching up to its own tech, as it just flaunted a recent project that allows fine-tuned gesture control, thanks to a newly developed talent for the motion sensing device to read whether your hand is open or closed. That let the team simulate multitouch-like capability on a PC as they air-painted basic images and manipulated Bing maps by varying their hand states. The hardware used doesn’t appear to be stock, so whether such new capability entails a rumored new version of the Kinect that may or may not appear on a (rumored) future Xbox, we’ll leave for you to decide.

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Via: NeoWin

Source: Microsoft Research

Microsoft Works On Kinect Sensor In Displays?

Microsoft Works On Kinect Sensor In Displays?Microsoft was really on to something with their Kinect gaming accessory, which actually transformed your entire body into a video game controller, further extending the realm of gameplay by blurring several lines which was originally ventured by the Nintendo Wii with its unique control system. Having said that, many folks have since taken advantage of the Kinect gaming system by hacking it to handle different kinds of workloads and functions, and this time around, there is the remote possibility of seeing Kinect sensors being integrated into displays.

Yes sir, you read that right. At the annual TechForum event that is held in Seattle, Microsoft Research did show off a bunch of interesting projects that they were hard at work at, where among them included displays which sported integrated Kinect sensors. Of course, numerous challenges lie ahead in making this a reality across a large scale, such as the infra-red cameras in Kinect not functioning in bright sunlight conditions, but you know what they say, where there’s a will, there’s a way.

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Valve To Hand Out Steam Box Prototypes In The Next Few Months, Wii U Spring System Update Coming In April; Stability Update Now Available,

Engadget Expand speakers, Round Eight: Nine big reasons to join us March 16th and 17th

Engadget Expand speakers, Round Eight Nine big reasons to join us March 16 and 17
If you’ve been following along with our speaker announcements for Expand, you know we’ve already got a lineup chock full of some of the most interesting technologists at the forefront of innovation. You’ll also appreciate that this last batch is a bit of a doozy — consider this the big reveal before the Big Reveal of the full agenda, coming very soon:

  • Nate Mitchell: Vice President of Product, Oculus Rift
  • Jason Parrish: Director, Lenovo ThinkPad Strategy & Planning
  • Hod Lipson: Professor of Engineering, Cornell University
  • Tamar Yehoshua: Director of Product Management, Google
  • Ujesh Desai: Vice President of Product Marketing, NVIDIA
  • Bob Heddle: Director, Kinect for Windows at Microsoft
  • John Wilson: Vice President, Systems Product Group, Razer
  • Corinna Proctor: Senior Research Manager, Lenovo User Research Center
  • Jim Denney: Vice President of Product Marketing, TiVo

Here’s why else you need to be at Expand…

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Microsoft Considered ‘Cool’ Again By Young Adults

Microsoft Considered Cool Again By Young Adults

If you would have told me a few years ago teens would no longer consider Apple to be cool in 2013, I wouldn’t believe you. If you followed that up by saying Microsoft would then be considered cool by teens, I would have called you a damn liar right in your no-good liar face. But that’s exactly what a recently published poll is reporting.

The poll was conducted by an organization that knows all about being cool, Reuters, which shows around 50% of Americans between the ages of 18 and 29 believe Microsoft is cooler when compared to the Microsoft of 2012. Unfortunately, Microsoft can’t officially claim itself to be the coolest tech company as 70% of Americans in the same age range believe Google’s Android OS has gotten cooler over the past year, while only 60% consider Apple to have gotten cooler over the past year.

Reuters believes the reason why young adults believe Microsoft to be cooler nowadays is due to its numerous marketing campaigns revolving around its Microsoft Surface tablets. In addition to that, Microsoft’s Xbox and Kinect also helped in considering the company to be cool.

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: WSJ “Confirms” Google’s Retail Store Plans, Google Rumored To Be Opening Their Own Retail Stores This Year,