Oct 20

Microsoft HoloDesk: when you need to juggle something that isn’t there (video)

Posted in: kinect, Microsoft, research, Today's Chili, video


If you’d thought that OmniTouch and PocketTouch were the end of Microsoft Research’s natural user interface projects, think again. It’s now released a video of the HoloDesk, a tool that lets you manipulate virtual 3D objects with your bare hands. Looking through a transparent display, the objects react nearly instantly, rolling from a sheet of real paper into a real cup and falling into shadow if you block the virtual light-source. The Cambridge lab that developed the tool sees uses in remote working, collaboration or device prototyping. If you hadn’t guessed, there’s a hacked Kinect at the heart of HoloDesk’s DNA, which makes us wonder how long it’ll be before we can use it to play Halo.

Microsoft HoloDesk: when you need to juggle something that isn’t there (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 20 Oct 2011 14:52:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Oct 20

Kinect adds Sesame Street and National Geographic to Xbox Live, makes motion control wholesome fun

Posted in: kinect, Microsoft, Today's Chili, video games, VideoGames, xbox 360, xbox live, Xbox360, XboxLive
Kinect — it’s the Xbox 360 peripheral that just keeps on giving, now with more edutainment. Yes, that collision of worlds typically yields cringe- and boredom-inducing interactive experiences. Not so with this marriage of MS’ motion-controlling sensor and the fine folks behind TV mainstays like Sesame Street, National Geographic and Disney. The newly inked content partnerships will see the creation of specifically tailored episodes of Kinect Nat Geo TV, in addition to a season’s worth of Kinect Sesame Street TV for Xbox Live, letting your youngins play virtual connect the dots with Elmo. Plans are also underway for a virtual storybook effort, codenamed Project Columbia, aimed at indoctrinating children into the fundamentals of reading, and Rush, a videogame that’ll lead adults and their tots alike through Pixar’s virtual worlds. These various family-friendly titles and TV shows are set to rollout sometime next spring, so if you need to get your little ones’ blood pumping (and slim down those love handles while you’re at it), it looks like X’s prepping to mark that spot. Official presser after the break.

Continue reading Kinect adds Sesame Street and National Geographic to Xbox Live, makes motion control wholesome fun

Kinect adds Sesame Street and National Geographic to Xbox Live, makes motion control wholesome fun originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 20 Oct 2011 14:07:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Oct 20

Nyko Zoom for Kinect hands-on

Posted in: gaming, hands-on, kinect, Today's Chili, video

Microsoft’s next Xbox 360 Dashboard update may be packing enough deep Kinect integration to make your inner Anderton tingle with glee, but it won’t do you much good if you live in a shoebox apartment, cramped dorm, or happen to own a couch. For all of its fun tricks, the Xbox’s depth sensor is woefully farsighted, and doesn’t play nice if you stand too close. What’s a motion loving, spatiality challenged gamer to do? Well, we’ve heard of one option.

Nyko announced the Zoom for Kinect quite some time ago, making lofty promises of reducing the sensor’s minimum required play distance by up to 40 percent. It performed notably well when we gave it a whirl at E3, but with Redmond’s Kinect heavy Dashboard redesign just around the corner, we thought we’d give it a second look.

Gallery: Nyko Zoom for Kinect: hands-on

Continue reading Nyko Zoom for Kinect hands-on

Nyko Zoom for Kinect hands-on originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 20 Oct 2011 11:40:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Oct 20

The Gadget Show builds an FPS simulator that shoots back (video)

Posted in: kinect, Today's Chili, video
Racing simulators are ten a penny, but the closest an FPS player will get to an immersive experience is buying some branded peripherals. Armed with a pre-release level of Battlefield 3, The Gadget Show enlisted a team of design experts to transform a Birmingham studio into an FPS simulator costing £500,000 ($650,000). A four by nine meter video dome surrounds the player as they stand on an omni-directional treadmill that lets you walk wherever you want to go. Ten infra-red motion tracking cameras and a sensor on your gun enables the picture to follow where you point it and a Kinect hack controls your jumping and crouching. The fun doesn’t stop there — 12 paintball markers mean that every time you get shot in the game, you’ll feel it. The show airs in the UK on October 24th at 8:00pm, Channel 5. We’ve got a behind the scenes gallery below (supplied by those lovely people from the show) as well as PR and a trailer after the break.

Gallery: The Gadget Show Battlefield 3 Simulator – Behind the Scenes Gallery

The Gadget Show Battlefield 3 Simulator - Behind the Scenes Gallery

Continue reading The Gadget Show builds an FPS simulator that shoots back (video)

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The Gadget Show builds an FPS simulator that shoots back (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 20 Oct 2011 03:50:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Oct 17

Kinect hack lets you manage your bank account with gestures, will occupy your living room (video)

Posted in: app, application, ctia, demo, interface, kinect, money, sensor, Today's Chili, ui
You know all those convoluted gestures and hate-infused fist pumps you make every time you look at your bank account? Well, you can now put them to good use, thanks to a new Kinect hack from Lithuania-based Etronika. The company’s software, which made its debut at last week’s CTIA E&A event, effectively brings motion-controlled banking directly to your living room. All you have to do is stand in front of your display, clap your hands to choose an icon, or wave your hand back and forth to navigate across the app’s carousel menu. This means you can pay your bills, check your balance and return to fetal position without even touching a sharp object. “A lot of banking software apps are filled with boring crap,” Etronika CEO Kestutis Gardziulis explained with refreshing candor. “With our software, you could be on the couch at home, having a beer, all while dealing with your bank account and kicking back.” Beer, banking and body language — sounds scandalous! Head past the break to watch a demo video, starring Pam Beesly’s doppelgänger.

Continue reading Kinect hack lets you manage your bank account with gestures, will occupy your living room (video)

Kinect hack lets you manage your bank account with gestures, will occupy your living room (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 17 Oct 2011 12:04:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Oct 13

Kinect-Based Software Lets You Pay Bills With Gestures, Gymnastics

Posted in: Hacks, Mods and DIY, kinect, Microsoft, Today's Chili

SAN DIEGO — There’s no way around it: Banking sucks. And if you’re broke like me, opening up your browser to your online banking site only to continually find a zero balance sucks even more. Aside from getting a higher-paying job, there’s not much out there to boost your balance. But an interface makeover from a small software company could make the experience a little less painful.

Lithuanian software outfit Etronika created a new Kinect-based, motion-activated user interface for the company’s banking software, letting users manipulate and manage their accounts with a literal wave of the hand. Clapping your hands together selects an icon and brings up the appropriate screen selection, while swiping back and forth navigates the carousel of icons.

“A lot of banking software apps are filled with boring crap,” said Etronika CEO Kestutis Gardziulis in what may be the biggest understatement I’ve ever heard. “With our software, you could be on the couch at home, having a beer, all while dealing with your bank account and kicking back.”

In June, Microsoft released its Kinect software developer kit free for download, allowing third party developers to create Windows-based applications that interact with the low-cost Kinect hardware. Since the release (and even prior to it), thousands of hackers have created all sorts of applications that take advantage of Kinect’s camera and microphone-based input. We’ve seen dancing apps to fighting games and now, with Etronika’s entry, banking software.

And it won’t stop at motion interaction, apparently. “We’re digging into voice, facial recognition — all the possibilities that come with the SDK,” Gardziulis said. “Why not use this popular gaming UI for banking, too?”

However superfluous, it’s a fun hack for an otherwise mundane (and often depressing) practice. Check out the video here for a quick demo of the software.

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Oct 10

Microsoft reportedly preparing Silverlight-like app framework ahead of Xbox Live update

Posted in: app, application, content, hdpostcross, kinect, Microsoft, rumor, Today's Chili, verizon, video, xbox, xbox 360, xbox live, Xbox360, XboxLive

Earlier this month, Microsoft announced a new slate of Xbox Live partnerships with Verizon, Comcast, and a host of other content providers. Now, the company has unveiled new details about the code upon which these new apps will run. Sources close to the situation tell GigaOM that the new framework, code-named “Lakeview,” will be based on Silverlight, but will also bring a few new features from Xbox Kinect, including voice recognition and gesture-based controls. More intriguing, perhaps, are insider claims that Microsoft’s new content partners stream video using Apple’s HTTP Live Streaming, rather than Redmond’s Smooth Streaming. GigaOM‘s sources went on to say that Microsoft has been introducing major changes to the platform over the past few weeks, in the hopes of having it ready for third-party developers once the Xbox Live update rolls out. Spokespersons for Xbox and Silverlight said they have “nothing to announce” about the new framework, though GigaOM reports that Redmond is aiming to release the update on Black Friday.

Microsoft reportedly preparing Silverlight-like app framework ahead of Xbox Live update originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 10 Oct 2011 06:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Oct 09

U-verse on Xbox 360 is getting upgraded in November, but will require XBL Gold

Posted in: att, hdpostcross, kinect, Microsoft, Today's Chili, update, xbox, xbox live, XboxLive

The good news for everyone anyone using their Xbox 360 as a AT&T U-verse set-top box, is that it will be upgraded as a part of the new dashboard update coming this fall. that means support for the integrated search, new UI and control via voice or gestures with Kinect. The bad news? After the update, it will only work if you’re also a subscriber to Xbox Live Gold. No problem if you were already shelling out in order to get your Gears 3 co-op on, but not so awesome if you weren’t planning on buying the gaming package just to watch some TV. Giant Bomb has talked to Microsoft and of the new services, some, like the BBC, may be accessible without a paid-up Gold pass, but for HBO Go, Dailymotion and others you’ll need to toss some cash Redmond’s way. To ease the pain, AT&T is tossing a one-time $60 credit towards its users with the package — still no word on whether or not you’ll need to pay that installation fee for a new setup after the upgrade goes through.

U-verse on Xbox 360 is getting upgraded in November, but will require XBL Gold originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 09 Oct 2011 07:11:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Oct 05

Soon, Xbox Companion will let you control your console from Windows Phone

Posted in: app, hdpostcross, kinect, mango, Microsoft, mobilepostcross, remote control, RemoteControl, Today's Chili, windows phone, windows phone 7, WindowsPhone, WindowsPhone7, Wp7, xbox, xbox 360, xbox live, Xbox360, XboxLive
We just reported that Microsoft is partnering with Verizon and Comcast (among others) to continue expanding the reaches of its Xbox 360 entertainment suite, but would it be complete without adding compatibility to its mobile empire as well? The Windows Phone Team says nay; it spoke up this morning about an upcoming app called Xbox Companion, which will access the Xbox Live Marketplace and also act as a remote, allowing you to navigate your console or control video playback directly from your handset. You can call it laziness or convenience — or both — but either way, it’s still going to be a clever new addition to the Marketplace. The app’s currently in beta and will be available as a free download “soon.” For a peek, check out the video below at around the one-minute mark.

Continue reading Soon, Xbox Companion will let you control your console from Windows Phone

Soon, Xbox Companion will let you control your console from Windows Phone originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 05 Oct 2011 13:40:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Oct 03

Kinect has no qualms about guessing a woman’s age

Posted in: kinect, Microsoft, patent, Today's Chili

Did you know that Microsoft’s Kinect can measure your bodily proportions in 3D and hence ontogenetically estimate your age? Well grandma, it can. Aside from being incredibly impolite, a recent patent application from Redmond also highlights a more beneficial function: to prevent kids from watching or playing age-restricted media. The proposed system could even shut down inappropriate material automatically when an offending minor steps in the room and then resume it when they leave. On the other hand, we give it five minutes before some scheming rugrat with a distorting lens tweets a workaround.

Kinect has no qualms about guessing a woman’s age originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 03 Oct 2011 07:56:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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