Your Next Laptop Might Have a Kinect Inside
Your Next Laptop Might Have a Kinect Inside
Posted 01/27/2012 at 11:09am
| by Paul Lilly
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The thinking heads at Redmond envision laptop users shaking their rumps and gyrating in front of their notebooks in the not-too-distant future. Imagine being able to raise your hand and manipulate tiles in Windows 8 or moving around documents (insert inevitable comparison to Minority Report). That's the path we're on as Microsoft flirts with the idea of integrating Kinect motion sensors into laptops.
Actually, it's more than just an idea. According to The Daily, prototypes already exist. TD actually got to play with one recently.
"The devices, which at first glance appear to be Asus netbooks running Windows 8, feature an array of small sensors stretching over the top of the screen where the webcam would normally be," TD explains. "At the bottom of the display is a set of what appear to be LEDs."
TD says a source at Microsoft confirmed that the devices it played with are official prototypes. The question is, what practical use is a Kinect-enabled laptop? That will be up to developers to decide. Gaming is an obvious application of motion control, but might be of limited appeal on a laptop or netbook. According to TD, Microsoft probably isn't going to develop its own laptops and will instead license the technology to hardware manufacturers, so they will be the ones who ultimately decide what to do with the technology.
Does a Kinect-enabled laptop interest you?
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Holly Golightly
January 29, 2012 at 8:54pm
The Kinect is more of a device you use from a distance. Because I use a laptop so close to me, I do not see the purpose of talking to my laptop, and moving my arms around to do gesters when the keyboard and touchpad are right there. To me, the Kinect would serve no purpose on this platform. I say this works better on a desktop or console. I have never been a fan of the Kinect to be honest with you. I do not like the idea of standing up to play my games, and shouting across the room to have it do something I want it to. Yeah, it's futuristic... But it is also a little annoying. I do not see much purpose to it. I do want Kinectimals. Such an adorable game I want so bad.
philipa25
January 28, 2012 at 3:44am
Does this mean that the laptop is going to go nuts every time I masturbate?
spoonard
January 28, 2012 at 12:13am
Laptops (i always thought) were generally used in tight quarters. Well, smaller than a full on desktop machine anyway. You don't wanna be waving your arms around and jumping around just to interface with (probably) Windows 8. It would be pretty keen for facial recognition and voice commands I guess though.
Bgilbert47
January 30, 2012 at 3:41am
Yea,using facial recognition would be preferable to having memorize lots of different passwords for all your websites, but would it be more secure?
livebriand
January 27, 2012 at 9:02pm
It sounds cool in theory, but I seriously have to wonder how well this'll work in reality. A keyboard and mouse is good enough - sometimes newer isn't always better. There's a reason I'm typing this on a desktop rather than a laptop (better ergonomics, I can have a larger monitor...).
dgrmouse
January 27, 2012 at 2:19pm
I would /much/ prefer to see it on a laptop than a television set. Of course (and please remember that you heard it from me first!), I'd much prefer the sensors to be on the lid of the laptop coupled with a small projection system. Then you could use the laptop's hinge to point the projector at a wall or a desk to make a very large touchscreen. Being able to project a multitouch display onto nearly any available surface on the cheap would be extremely useful for a huge number of applications. Better yet if there were a pair of polarized pico-projectors. This is a device I'd pay a premium for.
trhl4589
January 27, 2012 at 2:03pm
yes that does interest me i wouldnt mine gettin 1 that would b 1 less individual item i would need lol
mattman059
January 27, 2012 at 1:18pm
it interests me that we could see Kinect enabled games on laptops.
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