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What we love most about the Kinect isn't the motion controlled gaming, but the innovate software hacks programmers are coming up with. One of the latest comes from researcher Akihiro Nakamura from the Nara Institute of Science and Technology (NAIST) in Japan. Nakamura took the OpenNI API and developed a hack that lets users control their Roomba devices with a series of gestures, replacing the need to bend over and push buttons. It's a neat demonstration that, according to Nakamura, actually serves a purpose.
Left alone, the Roomba may miss a spot or three, a problem easily solved if you tell the Roomba exactly where to go. To get started, it first has to be calibrated, which is a simple matter of holding both arms in the air. Once that's complete, the Roomba gets to work, sucking up dirt wherever you direct it to go. Controlling it is as easy as placing one hand on your hip and pointing with the other.
There's a bit more to it than that, all of which is demonstrated in the video, but perhaps most importantly things like this are great reminders to the robot race that humans are still in charge.
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Gezzer
February 18, 2011 at 4:19am
Wow, sweet!
I'm a tech geek and I'm kind of lazy... so of course I have a rooba. :)
Thing is to use it you have to make sure there isn't a lot on the floor, like say your dining room chairs, or say one of those by the recliner mag racks, what have you. Then it just wanders around so it can take quite awhile for it to clean. I find it's best to prep the room/s to be cleaned and then go bed. In the morning rooba's back in it's charger and the floor is clean. Because of this I find it best just to use it once a week or so and spot vacum as needed during the week.
This is ssooooo cool. Wonder if I can convince the wife that I can only get a Kinect if I get the 360 as well.
Keith E. Whisman
February 04, 2011 at 8:30am
That's actually pretty cool, now you can tell the Roomba to go clean up a mess by just pointing at the mess, how classy is that. I imagine you can go insane waiting for the Roomba to find the mess on it's own.
Perhaps they can use the Kinnect to control giant robots to finally destroy Godzilla, Mothara, and Gamera.
Vano
February 04, 2011 at 6:57am
This is very cool. Now add the kinect on top of roomba itself and be done with it.
