kinect

Microsoft to launch Kinect for Windows sensor in 2014

Microsoft will finally deliver a Kinect sensor for Windows sometime next year.

The company announced Thursday that the Kinect for Windows sensor will use the same set of technologies key to the new Kinect sensor for the Xbox One, both of which will allow people to issue commands using voice and gestures.

The sensor will include a high-definition color camera and a noise-isolating multi-microphone array. Also part of the system will be a technology called Time-of-Flight, which measures how long it takes for photons to bounce off a person or object. Combined, these features promise greater accuracy and precision in … Read more

The 404 1,273: Where overall we think it's necessary (podcast)

Leaked from today's 404 episode:

- All of CNET's coverage of yesterday's Xbox One event.

- Here's what we know about Xbox One games.

- Microsoft talks Xbox One naming, privacy and more (Q&A).

- Sharon Vaknin and CNET Reviews' John Falcone at last night's Webby Awards.

- Courts turning to UrbanDictionary as an authoritative source on slang. And here's The 404's contribution to UrbanDictionary.… Read more

What we know about the Xbox One

CNET Update explains the Xbox One:

Microsoft has revealed its new console, the Xbox One, and it aims to be the one system to handle all home entertainment. This episode of Update gives you the quick roundup of Xbox One's features. Not all these features will be good news for gamers -- such as the requirement to pay a fee to play a used game.

Dive deeper into CNET's coverage of the Xbox One with these stories:

- Details on Microsoft's Xbox One

- The games revealed for the Xbox One

- Details about the Kinect sensor improvements … Read more

2013 is the year of the voice command

"Ok, Glass -- take a picture!"

"Xbox, what's on HBO?"

"Siri, play Angry Birds."

During the reveal of the Xbox One, I was struck by just how many voice commands Microsoft programmed into the device. Kinect brought a rudimentary set of commands to the gaming console, but now everything from opening movies to launching apps can be done via voice. "Xbox, Live TV" may be my new favorite phrase in the living room.

Microsoft's not the only one who's betting big on voice commands. The vast majority of Google Glass'… Read more

Xbox One includes improved Kinect sensor

Microsoft's got a brand-new version of its Kinect sensor for the Xbox One, an accessory that is no longer an add-on or pack-in, but a required piece of hardware like the Nintendo Wii light bar.

The new benefit, Microsoft says, is that the console is always listening for commands, from turning the system on, to switching among games, apps, and other Xbox One features. Game developers are also now encouraged to build Kinect features into their games, knowing all players will have the hardware.

Under the hood, Microsoft's using an all-new camera, which captures 1080p video (up from … Read more

The 404 1,255: Where we don't know what to do with our hands (podcast)

Leaked from today's 404 episode:

- Order a slice of 'za from Da Hut with your Xbox.

- Is it possible to lose weight playing video games?

- Has anyone ever taken a good photo of a live band?

- Michael Bay apologizes for Armageddon.

Bathroom break video: Dodgeball: White Goodman's necklace does magic.… Read more

Feeling kind of blue? This digital avatar can tell

It's nice to think each of us is entirely unique, a one-of-a-kind aggregate of life experiences colliding with genes that set us apart from everyone else. And while this is true to an extent, it's also true that certain telltale blueprints exist for us, all the way down to the way we move our faces if we are, say, depressed.

So researchers at the University of Southern California's Institute for Creative Technologies are developing a Kinect-driven avatar they call SimSensei to track and analyze in real time a person's facial movements, body posture, linguistic patterns, acoustics, and behaviors such as fidgeting which, taken together, signal psychological distress.… Read more

Microsoft offers Kinect code samples under open source

Microsoft is continuing a push to turn its Kinect motion-sensing game controller into a natural user-interface device for PCs, by sharing samples of the Kinect for Windows code under an open source license.

The idea is to give developers the opportunity to reuse the code and help Microsoft figure out how to improve it, Ben Lower, Kinect for Windows developer community manager, wrote in a blog post last week.

The company has posted 22 samples -- including code for face tracking, its skeletal viewer, and slideshow gestures -- in C#, C++, and Visual Basic. The code is available under an … Read more

Kinect looks to replace your mouse with your fists

Microsoft's Kinect might eventually reduce your reliance on the mouse.

At Microsoft's TechFest this week at its headquarters in Redmond, Microsoft is showing off an update to its software development kit that will allow developers to add more hand-gesture functionality to their programs. According to The Verge, which tried out the hand detection, the technology allows users to pinch-to-zoom with their hands and pan around the screen. All of that is done by simply waving and clenching their hands in front of the Kinect.

Microsoft's Kinect was first delivered to gamers by connecting it to the Xbox … Read more

Xbox 720 requires Kinect?

The Xbox 720 rumor floodgates are pouring over. A source speaking to Kotaku has reportedly obtained two Xbox 720 development kits, as well as system overview documents, which detail the specifications of Microsoft's still-unannounced next-generation platform.

The first bit of information from the source, who goes by the name SuperDaE, claims the Xbox 720 will require Kinect to function. According to the source, an updated and improved version of Kinect will ship with every unit sold and will not be an optional accessory, as the motion-sensing device currently is for Xbox 360. … Read more