Kinect for Windows isn’t expected to arrive until 2014, however as of today developers have the opportunity to apply for early access. Microsoft has opened the application process and made it clear there is a “limited number of spots in the program.” Those looking to apply should know there is some fine print and that
While many gamers have been focusing on the various fiascos surrounding the Xbox One’s used game policy and such (for which Microsoft pulled a 180), one thing that a lot of people have overlooked is the intense focus that Microsoft is putting on its Kinect sensor with the new console. While it can be considered
Ever since Microsoft unveiled the Xbox One and the new Kinect sensor, privacy advocates have been up in arms about how the Kinect watches and listens to its users at all times in order to be at the ready when a voice command or hand gesture is initiated. Lawmakers are also joining in, proposing a
Microsoft wasn’t terribly clear on certain aspects of the Xbox One upon its unveiling, and one area that raised concerns was a claim that the device was “always on,” serving as a type of spy in your living room listening to your conversations and peeking at your activities. Microsoft made a couple attempts to clear
There has been a lot of confusion surrounding the various new features of the Xbox One, but one of those features seems to have been settled. The Kinect sensor that many people feared would always be listening to your conversations can actually be turned off when not needed. Otherwise, you can use the Kinect to tell it to turn on your fancy new console.
According to Kotaku, a Microsoft rep confirmed that the Kinect sensor “is not always watching or always listening,” and users will be able to “turn the system completely off.” During the unveiling of the new console, Microsoft said that you can turn on the console using a voice command, which proves that the console isn’t actually completely off, but more in a stand-by mode listening for such voice commands.
Of course, this stirred up some big controversy about privacy issues, and that the console would always be listening to your conversation to hear for an “Xbox on” command that would turn on the console. It wouldn’t be listening in on your living room conversations just for the fun of it, but enough people have been worried that there could be a secondary use for the listening-in.
Microsoft says that they’ll have more information in the future as far as different methods for turning off the Xbox One, but we’re guessing that — as most people would suspect — that the power button on the console will actually shut down the Xbox One completely, while shutting down the console using the controller or sensor through the software will only shut it down partially, where at that point the Kinect would be on and listening for voice commands.
However, it seems Microsoft says that users have no reason to be concerned. The company notes that they are “designing the new Kinect with simple, easy methods to customize privacy settings, provide clear notifications and meaningful privacy choices for how data will be used, stored and shared.” Of course, though, if you’re really concerned about Microsoft spying on you while you’re not playing games, there’s always the power cord that you can rip from the wall.
SOURCE: Kotaku
Xbox One can shut down entirely to prevent always-listening Kinect is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
From gaming peripheral to PC input device, Microsoft’s Kinect is changing the way we interact with our machines. We’ll be speaking to Bob Heddle, director, Kinect for Windows at Microsoft about the device’s broadening functionality. We’ll also be taking a look at the state of the Kinect for Windows Software Development Kit.
For a full list of Expand sessions, be sure to check out our event hub.
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.
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.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
There’s a lot of talk going on about Microsoft‘s next-generation gaming console, but we haven’t heard a whole lot about the console’s next-generation Kinect sensor add-on. According to a leak, the new Kinect will feature quite a bit of upgrades from the current sensor, including full HD streaming, and a quicker latency that’s cut down by a third from the current Kinect sensor.
The next-generation Kinect sensor is said to be able to stream 1920 x 1080 at 30fps, and will come with a USB 3.0 connection. The sensor will also have a wider field of view, going from 57.5˚ horizontally and 43.5˚ vertically to 70˚ horizontally and 60˚ vertically. The new Kinect will also be able to allegedly track six players rather than just two.
On top of the RGB stream being full HD, the depth stream will also be higher resolution at 512 x 424 instead of 320 x 240. The new Kinect will also come with an IR stream for the first time, with a resolution of 512 x 424. Thanks to the improved streaming abilities, the sensor will be able to separate objects in close depth proximity, as well as capture depth curvature around edges better.
What’s perhaps most interesting, though, is the lack of a vertical tilt motor in this next-gen Kinect sensor. We’re not sure why exactly Microsoft would cut this out, but it most likely has to do with cutting down on production costs. Again, this is all just a leak and is unconfirmed, so we’re definitely taking it with a grain of salt, but hopefully we’ll hear more about the Xbox 720 and the new Kinect at E3 in June.
[via The Next Web]
Microsoft next-gen Kinect sensor to support 1080p, USB 3.0, and 60ms latency is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
At the Dive into Media conference yesterday, Microsoft went on stage and talked about one of its most successful products to date: the Xbox 360. Specifically, the company announced that they have sold over 76 million Xbox 360 consoles worldwide since its launch in 2005. Plus, the console has outsold the original Xbox three times over so far.
Microsoft also announced that they have sold over 24 million Kinect sensors worldwide. Granted it hasn’t been out as long as the console itself, but for only being out on the market since 2010, 24 million is certainly a respectable number. The Xbox Live community has also increased to 46 million users, which is a 15% increase from last year.
The Xbox 360 is the best-selling console in history, and for the past 24 months, the console as been at the top of the charts for every single month throughout the past two years. On average, Xbox Live users spend 87 hours per month playing games and utilizing various entertainment apps inside the online service, and the console is moving towards more of an entertainment device than ever before. Microsoft says that 18 billion hours of entertainment were racked up in 2012 on Xbox 360 consoles.
With the plethora of content that’s available on the Xbox 360, it makes sense that more and more people are using the gaming console as primarily an entertainment device, and Microsoft knows that. So, we could see the next-generation Xbox focused more towards the entertainment crowd than what we originally thought, while still catering towards gamers, of course.
[via Trusted Reviews]
Microsoft Xbox 360 sees 76m units sold globally is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
A third-party developer has managed to hook up his Xbox 360 Kinect motion sensor to his Google TV box in order to control it with arm and hand gestures. The best part is that the developer released the app and source code on Github that lets anyone with a bit of coding know-how to try the hack out for themselves.
The developer calls it Gesture TV, but don’t expect this to be a replacement for your Google TV remote, though. It’s mostly made for experimental purposes, since a few key features of the Google TV remote control aren’t supported yet. Plus, the app must run on a PC, so you’ll have to have your PC up and running with your TV in order to make it work.
Then again, the project shows what’s when developers can get a hold of remote control APIs for various TV platforms. Gesture TV is based on Anymote, which is Google’s remote control protocol, and it’s also used on other apps like Chromeremote. From the video, the gesture control runs pretty smooth for the most part, with just few minor hiccups.
The developer notes that there are two modes to the gesture control in the app. There’s pointer mode, which allows you to move the pointer around the screen using one hand, while keeping your other hand at your side, and then there’s gesture mode, which is activated when you hold up one hand and then the other. You can do things like swipe down to go home or swipe left to go back.
[via GigaOM]
Kinect gesture control comes to Google TV via hack is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
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