Tech Blog

[#1]

Yep, you read that right. Kinect! For Windows! Except... well, not quite yet for consumers, but there's a lot of promise in today's announcement that "any business" can now develop applications for Kinect in Windows. I mean... it could revolutionize human-computer interaction, right?

I know what you're thinking: "pfft, Kinect barely revolutionized my Human-Xbox interaction" and you'd be right. But, you know, with anyone able to work with Kinect, people are definitely going to find awesome ways to make it totally useful. The more minds, the better. Right now Microsoft proudly announce "innovation leaders" such as United Health Group, American Express, Mattel, Telefonica, and Toyota  are developing applications with Kinect for Windows, but that's not who I find interesting. It's the kind of people who might enter the "Kinect Accelerator" program, a three-month intensive competition to develop a Kinect prototype. People who... and I shudder to use this phrase, but whatever, "think outside the box."

Heck, if I could "think outside the box" I wouldn't have to be using that bloody phrase. I mean, I'd be one of those people I guess. I guess I mean... Think of say Die Gute Fabrik, who turned the PlayStation Move controllers (bluetooth, easily used with PC) into Johann Sebastian Joust? What could they do with Kinect?

“It’s been just over a year since we launched Kinect for Xbox 360, and we’re only starting to scratch the surface of what’s possible with Kinect,” said Craig Eisler, general manager for Kinect for Windows. “By offering hardware and software that’s designed specifically for Windows applications, we hope to inspire visionaries around the world to create transformative breakthroughs with Kinect—taking its gesture and voice capabilities beyond the living room into other industries such as education, manufacturing, healthcare, and retail.”

Something pretty interesting about Kinect for Windows: it offers a “near mode” which sees objects as close as 40 centimeters in front of the sensor. That's good, eh? It would mean Kinect would work in my apartment, where I sit literally three feet from my TV.

Anyway. The Kinect for Windows commercial license and purchasable hardware will be available in 12 countries (Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Spain, United States and United Kingdom), at a suggested retail price of $269, which is actually pretty reasonable if you're looking to have a bash with working with it yourself. The price includes a one-year warranty and access to ongoing software updates for both speech and human tracking, too, which I originally read as "human trafficking" which would be something else entirely.