Let the inevitable comparisons to Minority Report begin.
How many technologies have you heard being compared to Minority Report style computing? More than you can count on one hand, most likely, and we have yet another candidate in Leap Motion with its 3D motion control technology. Hewlett-Packard (HP) will attempt to bring Leap Motion's technology to the mainstream by embedding it into select products as part of a new collaboration between these two companies.
Meticulous detail, motion-controlled swords and PC exclusivity: that's what noted sci-fi and historical fiction author Neal Stephenson is bringing to the table if his arena-style blade-dueling game, Clang, meets its $500k funding goal. Stephenson, you see, is sick of seeing guns, guns and more guns in games and he -- with the help of Subutai, his Seattle-based media company -- wants to bring back old-school sword duels in virtual form, all powered by Razer's Hydra motion controller.
Get ready to wave at your PC and welcome the motion control revolution on the desktop, Microsoft just made available the Kinect for Windows Software Development Kit (SDK) version 1.0 for download. After shedding its beta tag, the Kinect for Windows SDK now supports up to four Kinect sensors on a single computer, skeletal tracking, a Near Mode feature that lets the camera recognize objects just 40cm away, improved stability and audio, and API updates and enhancements.
Update: This post originally didn't mention that it was Techie-Buzz.com that originally broke this story. Our apologies!
Microsoft spent E3 basically rubbing the Kinect in everybody's faces. The future of gaming lies in voice control and real-time head tracking, Microsoft proclaimed from its keynote pulpit. Bing Search! Kinect Labs! Bossing your squadmates around in Mass Effect 3! We were starting to think that the goliath from Redmond actually wanted to push gaming into the future.
Then a US trademark filing brought us back to reality. It's not about the future – it's about the cash.
It seems like every few weeks Microsoft thumps its chest over how many Kinect motion control cameras it's sold, and now we're being told that number is 10 million. If there was any remaining doubt that Kinect sales have been an "overwhelming success," as Microsoft put it, the rapid rise to double digit sales earned kudos from the Guinness World Records as the fastest-selling consumer electronics device. So much for the naysayers.
Microsoft's Kinect motion-sensing add-on for the Xbox 360 hasn't even been on the market for two months, yet we're already impressed with what the modding community has been able to do with the device. This is just the beginning, folks.
According to Eurogamer, an upcoming firmware release will improve the device's compression technology and depth sensor. As it currently stands, the Kinect detects movement at 30 frames per second at a 320x240 resolution, which is dictated by an artificial limit placed on the USB controller to use around 15MB/s even though it's capable of 35MB/s.
What Microsoft is trying to do is double the spec of the depth camera to 640x480 via a dashboard update. In theory, this could make the Kinect capable of detecting finger movements and hand rotations, which would open a whole new world for the modding community to play around with.
Maybe it's not the whole gimmick of motion controlled gaming that's holding you back from pairing your Xbox 360 console with a Kinect camera. Maybe, just maybe, you thought to yourself, "If only Microsoft made a Kinect laden with crystals and jacked up the price fourfold, then I'd be all in!"
If that sounds like you, then you're one lucky son-of-a-gun. Dutch website DSStyles.com is selling a customized Kinect plastered with over 5,000 genuine Swarovski crystals adhered to the front, back, and everywhere else.
"With over 5,000 pcs [of] genuine Swarovski crystals adhered, it can simply be acted as the sparkling light at night," DSStyles says. "Especially when playing the hottest game Kinect Dance, with these Swarovski crystals, it is just like dancing in the disco!"
Just like it, huh? In that case, at only $632, how could you not buy one?
Microsoft this week announced that strong demand over Black Friday weekend helped bolster retail sales of its Kinect motion control platform to more than 2.5 million units since launching less than a month ago.
"We are thrilled about the consumer response to Kinect, and are working hard with our retail and manufacturing partners to expedite production and shipments of Kinect to restock shelves as fast as possible to keep up with demand," said Don Mattrick, president of the Interactive Entertainment Business at Microsoft. "With sales already exceeding two and a half million units in just 25 days, we are on pace to reach our forecast of 5 million units sold to consumers this holiday."
By comparison, the Sony Move sold just 1 million units during its first month of sales, while it took Apple's iPad two months to record 2 million units sold.
Microsoft is riding high on the recent release of Windows Phone 7 and Kinect. But if you thought the Redmond company was all through jamming their collective feet in their mouths, think again. Microsoft's Dennis Durkin made some rather interesting comments at a recent investment summit. He told investors, in part, that Kinect could be used to determine who is in the room, what they're doing, and even what they are wearing. All this to more effectively serve up ads.
"And over time that will help us be more targeted about what content choices we present, what advertising we present, how we get better feedback," said Durkin. This was always the fear, but most dismissed it as a paranoid delusion. And indeed, the Microsoft Kinect privacy policy does state that this sort of data collection is not allowed.
Microsoft has denied that these statements in any way outline their plans for Kinect. However, it would seem someone at Microsoft has at least been kicking around the idea. Do you think this is an inevitability, or just tinfoil hat fodder?
Motion controlled gaming is all well and good, and sometimes downright hilarious (for the spectators). Remember all those reports of Wii remotes being flung through LCD TV sets? That'll ruin your afternoon.
Microsoft just launched its Kinect device, which uses a camera to capture your body movements rather than rely on a controller like Nintendo's Wii and Sony's PlayStation Move. Surely nothing bad can come of this, right? Not so fast. Check out the Xbox Kinect Fail video below, and then keep the comments section rolling with your own favorite motion controlled fail vids.
maximumpc: It's kind of hard to parse, but this Microsoft interview doesn't bode well for PC gamers. http://t.co/BmmDxN9C27 via @pcgamer52 min 10 sec ago
maximumpc: Gigabyte shows off its gnarly triple-fan OC edition of the GTX 780: http://t.co/SYT2kJocIy1 hour 58 min ago
maximumpc: Windows 8 causes Microsoft to lose one point in its overall customer satisfaction rating: Vista took 3 away though: http://t.co/yjTCM3LVBs4 hours 11 min ago