Kinect hacks: Use Kinect to navigate the web, resize koalas
A new Kinect hack -- dubbed "DepthJS" -- allows Microsoft's frequently repurposed camera to interact with a web browser via Javascript. Its creators, from the MIT Media Lab Fluid Interfaces Group, envision "all sorts of applications that run in the browser," and demonstrate fairly simple website navigation in their video (embedded after break). Making a fist enables selection, a semi-dismissive swatting motion allows scrolling, and giving it the finger automatically posts a hateful comment on a game review you didn't agree with. (Okay, that last thing isn't true.)
Meanwhile, Evoluce, a Munich-based software company, has shown Microsoft Windows 7 applications being controlled through Kinect. The associated video shows multi-touch support, with the user being able to zoom in on images or draw using two hands at once. It also makes resizing pictures of adorable animals very easy, which should come in handy for your bandwidth-limited nature blog.
DepthJS from Fluid Interfaces on Vimeo.
