Microsoft Kinect
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Kinect meets Minecraft, animates a giant statue in your honor (video)
This isn't the first time Kinect and Minecraft have crossed paths -- scavenge the 'nets and you'll find plenty of user interface examples. What Nathan Viniconis has done, however, is different. What you're looking at above is rendered instantly by way of using what the Kinect sees and constructing an in-world monument in real time. Not only that, but the project has now evolved into a sort of stop motion animation. It's pretty impressive, even for those who have little to no idea what Minecraft is. All the nitty gritty details are available on the project page. The video, of course, is after the break.
Kinect combos Street Fighter IV, fires single-fisted boomsticks at the FPS crowd (video)
Oh sure, we've seen the Kinect assist a hadouken or two, but that wasn't the same: here, the YouTube user who brought us Call of Duty via Wiimote, Nunchuk and Kinect is throwing fireballs and taking names in the real game. Demize2010 manipulated the FAAST emulator to recognize a variety of virtual martial arts gestures, including the infamous dragon uppercut and whirlwind kick -- giving him everything he needs for a flowchart victory with only his bare hands. Meanwhile, one Bill Maxwell has taken the Kinect and made it recognize his fist, the better to control first-person shooter games with requiring an Wiimote intermediary. He's developed a "high-speed kinematic tracker" called MaxFPS that monitors his hand's position in real time, allowing him to move, turn, jump, and reload with quick swipes of his paw. How do you shoot? Why, by punching those baddies' lights out, of course. See it on video after the break.
Kinect support for Windows in the works, SDK release this summer?
WinRumors, citing anonymous sources, reports that the official software developers kit (SDK) for Kinect is currently in the works and will be released in beta some time in the next few months. Apparently, support for the device will become a part of Microsoft's XNA Game Studio and also be integrated into Windows 8 in a big way. These details come hot on the heels of CEO Steve Ballmer's statement at CES that the good folks in Redmond would eventually support the device's use on computers, but he set no timetable for the SDKs release. We can't confirm the story, but given the level of detail in the report and the author's confidence in the info, we won't be surprised if Microsoft gives all you Kinect hackers something to cheer about very soon.
Kinect rumored to have PC support in waiting
There's been no shortage whatsoever of PC control schemes using Kinect, but up until now, every bit of it has been without Microsoft's official blessing. Of course, the company eventually caved to the massive amount of hacking going on and confessed that it didn't have any hard feelings for those giving it a whirl, but is it really fixing to take things one step further with bona fide PC support? That's the talk emanating from South Korea, where game developer GamePrix has reported that at least one of its titles (Divine Soul, if you must know) is "scheduled to support Kinect." Continuing on about the game, the company's Jason Lim was quoted as saying that "Kinect will soon be available as a new PC controller," but naturally, we've our doubts. For starters, why wouldn't Microsoft be working with a more major developer if honest-to-goodness PC-Kinect interactions were planned? Secondly, there's a definite possibility that GamePrix could really be referring to unofficial support, which would make everything seem a lot more sensible. Either way, we'll definitely be keeping an ear to the ground for more, and with GDC under three months away, we ought to know the truth sooner rather than later. [Thanks, Rashad]
Kinect Hacks: Keyboard Anywhere slaps a keyboard almost anywhere
Finally, a chance to re-enact our favorite scene from Big -- and also watch two guys recreate it! The latest Kinect Hack is simply called Keyboard Anywhere, an apt title because that's pretty much what it does. You can size the keyboard based on your space -- the video past the break shows it being applied to several different surfaces, including a desk and the floor. Hit the jump to see it in action.
Kinect Hacks: Optical camouflage turns you into the Predator
These Kinect hacks just keep getting better and better. This latest is from YouTube user TakayukiFukatsu and turns him invisible. Just let that sink in for a moment then hop past the break to see him do his best Kevin Bacon impression.
Tutorial guides Kinect hackers into iRobot territory
Impressed by some of the Kinect hacks using a Roomba or iRobot Create but don't know where to start? Well, the folks at ROS have now provided just that in the form of a tutorial that guides you through the process of combining two of the most hackable devices of recent years. Of course, that's hardly just a plug-and-play process (hence the need for a lengthy tutorial), but ROS does give it a "beginner" rating, and it should be relatively straightforward for anyone with some basic hardware hacking skills. As for what you do once you get the two connected, well, you're on your own there -- but we're sure there will be plenty more tutorials where this one came from before too long.
THQ to announce 'one core Kinect game soon'
The Kinect launch was pretty much dominated by one third-party publisher: Ubisoft. Despite plenty of announcements at TGS and that Star Wars game, there isn't much on the docket from the bigger third-party devs. THQ's Danny Bilson promised on Twitter earlier today that would change. "We will be announcing one Core Kinect game soon," Bilson wrote in a missive. This followed an earlier tweet where Bilson promised a "big game announcement" at the upcoming VGAs, but it's likely he's referring to the Guillermo Del Toro game (again) and not this Kinect title. Regardless, we've followed up with THQ for comment and will let you know what we find out.
Xbox 360 Fancast 190 -- What's Frappening?
You're in for quite the piping-hot treat of justice today, as the Xbox 360 Fancast crew find themselves in rare form for the 190th episode of this podcasting institution. There's plenty of punny taglines for our coffee-themed super hero we've concocted in our noggins, but there's also talk of this Xbox 360 video games console thing, as well -- specifically, about how well Kinect has been doing and how much fun it is to stab your friends. Download and listen, lest you allow the Borgia to win! [iTunes] Subscribe to the Podcast directly in iTunes (MP3) [Zune] Subscribe to the Podcast directly in Zune Marketplace (MP3) [RSS MP3] Add the Xbox 360 Fanboy Podcast feed (in MP3) to your RSS aggregator and have the show delivered automatically [MP3] Download the MP3 directly Hosts: Richard Mitchell (SenseiRAM, @senseiram), Alexander Sliwinski (Sli Xander, @xandersliwinski) and Dave Hinkle (KnifefightYaDad, @davehinkle) Music: Intro/Outro: "Electromooq" by Uma Floresta; Break: "Musow" by Bassekou Kouyate and Ngoni Ba For fans: Xbox 360 Fancast Facebook group
Kinect lightsaber, and other inevitable milestones for the open-source robot eye (video)
What, you didn't think the Kinect open source community would just take a break for the weekend, did you? Microsoft certainly wouldn't want that, and after seeing how much shadow puppetry warmed our hearts, we wouldn't want it either! Thankfully, someone in this world can now track a wooden stick to emulate a lightsaber in real time, bringing one classic meme that much closer to actuality (and the promised Star Wars Kinect game not even parsec closer to release). If that's not enough, we also have a demo made that converts hand-waving to MIDI notes -- which, as creator Ben X notes, puts him one step closer to Ableton Live integration -- and a pretty pretty wild visual of body dysmorphic disorder (and a chubby cat) courtesy of the powerful open source Cinder library and a Vimeo user who goes by "flight404." If those were appetizer and two-part entree, respectively, our post-meal coffee would be a pretty sharp critique on Kinect Joy Ride -- where it seems, on at least one track, you can nab a bronze trophy by staying as still as humanly possible. All the footage you seek is after the break. [Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Microsoft: I'm a PC, and Kinect open-source drivers were my idea
When word first reached Microsoft that the open-source community would hack the Kinect, the company's response was pretty heavy-handed: "Microsoft does not condone the modification of its products," a rep told CNET, pledging to "work closely with law enforcement and product safety groups to keep Kinect tamper-resistant." But now that Kinect mods blow our minds on a near-daily basis, Redmond has changed its tone. Microsoft's Alex Kipman told NPR Science Daily listeners that as far as the company's concerned, the Kinect hasn't actually been hacked thus far, and that Microsoft actually left the camera's USB connection unprotected "by design" to let the community take advantage. Though he and fellow Microsoftie Shannon Loftis wouldn't commit to official PC software drivers for the device, he did say that the company would "partner sooner rather than later" with academic institutions to get the hardware doled out, and suggested that some universities started playing with Kinect even before its commercial launch. Read a transcript of the pertinent section of the podcast after the break, or listen for yourself at our source link starting at the 18:22 mark. [Thanks, Fred T.]
Microsoft exec caught in privacy snafu, says Kinect might tailor ads to you
Microsoft's Dennis Durkin voiced an interesting idea at an investment summit last week -- the idea that the company's Kinect camera might pass data to advertisers about the way you look, play and speak. "We can cater what content gets presented to you based on who you are," he told investors, suggesting that the Kinect offered business opportunities that weren't possible "in a controller-based world." 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. And data about how many people are in a room when an advertisement is shown, how many people are in a room when a game is being played, how are those people engaged with the game? How are they engaged with a sporting event? Are they standing up? Are they excited? Are they wearing Seahawks jerseys?Needless to say, sharing this level of photographic detail with advertisers presents some major privacy concerns -- though it's nothing we haven't heard before -- but moreover it's explicitly against the privacy policy Microsoft presents Kinect users. "Third party partners use aggregated data to deliver Kinect experiences (games or applications), to understand how customers use their Kinect experiences, and to improve performance or even to help plan new experiences," the Kinect Privacy and Online Safety FAQ reads, but also "They are not permitted to use the information for marketing purposes such as selling you games or services, or for personalizing advertising" (bolding ours). In an email to the Wall Street Journal, Microsoft flatly denied that the Kinect would do anything of the sort, whether via third-party partners or otherwise. "Xbox 360 and Xbox LIVE do not use any information captured by Kinect for advertising targeting purposes," representatives wrote. Honestly, some of us at Engadget still think targeted advertising is kind of neat, but we know how seriously you take this stuff.
Hack turns Kinect into 3D video capture tool
We all knew this would inevitably happen, but seeing it in action is something else -- the Kinect transformed by the power of open-source drivers into a true 3D video camera for capturing oneself. UC Davis visualization researcher Oliver Kreylos fed the streams from his peripheral's infrared and color cameras into a custom program that interpolated and reconstructed the result, generating a mildly mindblowing 3D virtual reality environment he can manipulate at will. And if it makes him look a little bit like the proficiently penciled protagonists in Take On Me, that's just the cherry on top. Don't miss the videos after the break to see what we're talking about.
Hacked Kinect taught to work as multitouch interface
We gotta say, the last time we were this excited about hardware hacking For The Greater Good was when people started using the Wiimote for all sorts of awesome projects. Kinect is naturally a lot more complicated, but there's also a lot of potential here, and we can't wait to see what people come up with. Florian Echtler took that open source driver and hooked the Kinect into his own multitouch UI "TISCH" software library (which actually supports the Wiimote as an input already, funny enough). The result is a bit of MS Surface-style multitouch picture shuffling and zooming, but it uses full body tracking instead of touchscreen input, of course. The self-effacing Florian had this to say in the video description: "I thought I'd get the mandatory picture-browsing stuff done so it's out of the way and everybody can focus on more interesting things." You're still a hero in our book, man. Always a hero. Feeling left out on all these Kinect shenanigans because you're rocking a Mac? Well, libfreenect has also now been ported over to OS X by Theo Watson (who sounds unenthused about his accomplishment in the video embedded after the break). Also: once you're done admiring your IR-rendered visage on your shiny Apple-built hardware, scrounge yourself up a working Linux box. All the cool people are doing it.
Kinect standalone power supply now available from Microsoft
So you bought a new Xbox 360 S console bundled with Kinect last week and, like many others, found your new camera doodad doesn't come with its own power supply -- clearly, Microsoft thought you intended to use your Kinect with this console and this console alone. You were up the proverbial creek, sans paddle ... until now. Microsoft's online store now has a listing for the power supply. No, you can't simply get one on the arm since you purchased the Xbox 360 S bundle -- no, instead you've got to reach into your wallet for $34.99 if you want one. That's almost one whole fifth of the cost of Kinect on its own but, hey, if you need one, now you know where to get it.
Kinect does hacker's bidding, but not for fortune or fame (update: more video)
Yes, Microsoft's Kinect has already been cracked, as you'll see on video after the break -- the motion-sensing depth camera now nods its head on command and displays real-time accelerometer data on one lucky hacker's PC. We tracked down the son-of-a-gun who did it -- as it happens, the same NUI Group member who hacked the PlayStation Eye in 2008 -- and found to our disappointment that he doesn't necessarily intend to unleash his new exploit on the world. The $2,000 prize Adafruit is presently offering for open-source Kinect drivers isn't his aim, though he does have big personal plans for the device, as he hopes to integrate it into his company's commercial visualization suite CL Studio Live. It seems that work is progressing fast, as he's already gotten video streams from both cameras to output to his computer, and he plans to upload a far more convincing video soon. Here's hoping he has a change of heart about sharing his rapid accomplishments. Update: Second video after the break! [Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Microsoft and Mark Wahlberg team up to give Kinects to Boys and Girls Club
You don't have to tell Mark Wahlberg how to have a good time. The man is well versed in pleasant recreational activities, which made him the perfect candidate for a new program from Microsoft, who will donate Xbox 360 consoles and Kinect to the the Boys and Girls Club of America. "Thousands" of clubs across the country will receive the donation package, which includes the 4GB Xbox 360 S Kinect bundle and a copy of Kinect Sports. "When I heard Xbox 360 wanted to give Kinect to Clubs across the country, I had to jump in and help," he said. Wahlberg is active in the Boys and Girls Club of America, having spent a majority of his youth at Clubs. The promotion is part of the Boys and Girls Club's initiative to promote exercise and healthy activity amongst youth. We've never been to a Boys and Girls Club, but we imagine they're largely open warehouse space, because Kinect kinda needs that to work.
Kinect for Xbox 360 review
And just like that, all three of the major game consoles now have some semblance of motion controls. Unlike the Nintendo Wii and PlayStation Move, however, Microsoft's Kinect for Xbox 360 opts to get rid of buttons altogether, relying on body gestures and voice commands. As the (estimated to be $500 million) ad campaign says, "you are the controller" -- for better and for worse. Read on for our full review! %Gallery-106702%
Phil Spencer: Kinect pre-order numbers are 'good,' Microsoft will 'work hard to fill out the demand'
During an interview with Joystiq at a Kinect pre-launch event in San Francisco, Microsoft Games Studios veep Phil Spencer told us that early retail indication for Kinect is showing strong interest in the new platform. "Pre-order numbers are good," he said. "The retail channel seems to be excited for what we're doing. We feel good about our supply that we can build. I imagine we're going to have to work hard to fill out the demand that's out there, is kind of our sense, but we're willing to work hard so that's fine." It's good to hear Microsoft is willing to put the work in, since Ubisoft's VP of sales and marketing, Tony Key, thinks the device will be "sold out" at launch. You can look forward to our full interview with Spencer on Monday, which discusses everything from the upcoming Kinect launch to Xbox 360 S dominance in North America over the past four months, and even the PlayStation Move.
Microsoft to spend one billion dollars advertising Kinect and Windows Phone 7
Microsoft's serious about making Kinect a success. A $500 million kind of serious. That's the latest report, courtesy of the New York Post, on the change Steve Ballmer and company intend to drop to make sure that every living and breathing creature in the US knows about the controller-free controller this holiday season. That mirrors earlier analyst estimates placing the Windows Phone 7 marketing budget at a similar figure, which in total would amount to a cool billion dollars in advertising expenditure. We already know Microsoft's scooped the Old Spice Guy for WP7, but Kinect is getting the extra special carpet bombing treatment with Burger King, Pepsi, YouTube, Nickelodeon, Disney, Glee, Dancing with the Stars, People and InStyle magazines, and even Times Square all having a role to play in spreading the word. Yup, it's gonna be pretty hard to miss it.
