News - Microsoft talks "mind-blowing" Kinect for Windows

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Launch date revealed as Microsoft promises "mind-blowing" future for Kinect.

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Read more.

Finally....we are starting to reach the point where I might actually buy one of these novelty items :)

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Originally Posted by shaithis

Finally....we are starting to reach the point where I might actually buy one of these novelty items :)

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I'd hold off until they manage to downsize the amount of space that you need to have to be able to use one of these. I'd love it if they manage to rig it so you can use it for gesture/voice control when sitting at a desk, (yes, I know there's keyboards/mice for that - but they don't have the geek appeal of Kinect).

i have a big frontroom with plenty of space (about 10'x10' at a push of open space)

I'll be happy if it can tell when my boss is *ahem*-ing me off and play me some soothing music or buy me a present to calm me down... ;)

Or if you could rig it to tell when the person sitting at the computer was drunk, and it'd stop them sending emails or posting on facebook - now *that* wouldbe useful :D

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Originally Posted by shaithis

i have a big frontroom with plenty of space (about 10'x10' at a push of open space)

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Sounds ideal - got to say that for a "game peripheral" I've been quite impressed with how good it is. As a simple example, it doesn't get confused by having a pendulum clock behind you - which screwed up EyeToy on the PS2 completely.

Voice recognition is about as good as you would expect.

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Originally Posted by crossy

I'd hold off until they manage to downsize the amount of space that you need to have to be able to use one of these. I'd love it if they manage to rig it so you can use it for gesture/voice control when sitting at a desk, (yes, I know there's keyboards/mice for that - but they don't have the geek appeal of Kinect).

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I thought that was already possible (wasn't the Windows/Kinect SDK launched a while back?) as I've been meaning to rig our Kinect up to my PC for the last few weeks to be a slob from my bed.

Kinect doesn't work in the front room of my 3 bed house and its not a small room - I'm always bumping into the sofa and it regularly losses track unless I have perfect lighting conditions. The kinect just wasn't made for the average uk house i'm afraid. Can't see how it work in front of a desk just due to this fact...

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Originally Posted by cheesemp

Kinect doesn't work in the front room of my 3 bed house and its not a small room - I'm always bumping into the sofa and it regularly losses track unless I have perfect lighting conditions. The kinect just wasn't made for the average uk house i'm afraid. Can't see how it work in front of a desk just due to this fact...

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Well the voice control isn't really constrained by space, but when i watched by brother playing Forza 4 with the head tracking he was sat around ~1m from the sensor/monitor so i reckon with an extra 50cm or so you'd be good for hand gestures?

I'm not sure how, if at all, the altitude (extreme terminology reporting in) of the sensor affects its 'view' as well - so maybe you don't need as much room if the sensor is on a PC desk, lined up with your torso/shoulders rather than in a lowly tv cabinet etc.

Edit: Do we think the Windows implementation will be a lot better as well? I know DF found that it was the USB2.0 used on the 360 which was 'starving' it of bandwidth.

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Originally Posted by Terbinator

Well the voice control isn't really constrained by space, but when i watched by brother playing Forza 4 with the head tracking he was sat around ~1m from the sensor/monitor so i reckon with an extra 50cm or so you'd be good for hand gestures?

I'm not sure how, if at all, the altitude (extreme terminology reporting in) of the sensor affects its 'view' as well - so maybe you don't need as much room if the sensor is on a PC desk, lined up with your torso/shoulders rather than in a lowly tv cabinet etc.

Edit: Do we think the Windows implementation will be a lot better as well? I know DF found that it was the USB2.0 used on the 360 which was 'starving' it of bandwidth.

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Mines not in a cabinet its on a shelf above the TV. It just doesn't work unless I clear the sofa out the way (Its 3 meters away from the TV!) and shut the blinds. Because of those limitations its just ended up gathering dust.

Edit: Also regarding voice control - I again don't use it as I only use my xbox for games and its just not worth using as you've got to pick up a controller anyway. I also feel a bit stupid using it (I guess thats what iphone 4S uses feel like) when a button press is simpler.

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Originally Posted by cheesemp

Mines not in a cabinet its on a shelf above the TV. It just doesn't work unless I clear the sofa out the way (Its 3 meters away from the TV!) and shut the blinds. Because of those limitations its just ended up gathering dust.

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Eee, i have no idea then. I've always found it fine lighting conditions wise, although yeah, the full-body games do need a bit of space - especially for 2+ players.

*gets popcorn out* waits till they announce the price

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Originally Posted by cheesemp

Mines not in a cabinet its on a shelf above the TV. It just doesn't work unless I clear the sofa out the way (Its 3 meters away from the TV!) and shut the blinds. Because of those limitations its just ended up gathering dust.

Edit: Also regarding voice control - I again don't use it as I only use my xbox for games and its just not worth using as you've got to pick up a controller anyway. I also feel a bit stupid using it (I guess thats what iphone 4S uses feel like) when a button press is simpler.

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Ditto on the above - I managed to take advantage of a sale at a GAME store I was in and got a very cheap TV/monitor mount. Yes, it did dramatically reduce the space required, but it still failed to register gestures until you were 1.5-2.0 metres away, although it was "aware" of movement etc at a third of the distance.

As to the voice control, it always seemed that whatever I wanted to do needed a button press at some point, in which case it was always easier to do that with the controller. :rolleyes:

I've sometimes thought about getting one of those "add on" lens arrangements that's supposed to cut the 'stand off' distance - but they're very expensive and there's been mixed opinions on their effectiveness. Maybe if the Windows support for Kinect is good enough then I might be tempted to give it another whirl.