kinect

Future of search and rescue: Cockroaches piloted by Kinect

File this one under the grossly, absurdly, and perhaps soon patently awesome. Researchers at North Carolina State University say they have developed a system by which cockroaches may actually perform search and rescue.

Using Microsoft's motion-sensing Kinect, they plotted a path for cockroaches and tracked them. Researchers nudged the roaches into motion with wires attached to the bugs' sensory appendages, and they steered the roaches by sending small electrical impulses to wires attached to the bugs' antennae. The old-fashioned horse and whip are just so crude by comparison.

Still, why the cockroach? Presumably their size could prove useful in … Read more

Microsoft offering developers early access to Kinect for Windows

Microsoft said today that it will be offering developers early access to its Kinect for Windows program. For $399, developers will get access to tools and a pre-release sensor.

The program begins this November in order to ensure enough time to ready new applications before Kinect for Windows is shipped next year.

Those taking part in the program will get direct access to the Kinect for Windows engineering team, early access to ongoing builds of the software development kit, private access to all API and sample documentation, the pre-release sensor, and a production sensor at launch.

The news was announced … Read more

The tech behind Kinect and how it will control your living room

LOS ANGELES -- At first I thought I had misunderstood him, so I made sure to reply slowly. "So you're saying Kinect is going to blast IR signals at your living room, and they're going to reflect off walls and stuff and bounce back to control all of your devices?"

"That's correct," Marc Whitten said.

"Whoa," I replied.

"Kinect has a really powerful management of that energy," he explained. "It's just light," he went on, "but it just exists in a different spectrum." I … Read more

I tested the Virtuix Omni and my knees, hands, and elbows lived to tell the tale (hands/feet-on)

LOS ANGELES -- I did not fall! No, really. I didn't (just watch the video). Falling was my biggest fear when I booked a meeting last week to see the Virtuix Omni, an omnidirectional, low-friction surface that allows you to move around in a virtual environment (using the Oculus Rift) without (seriously) endangering yourself, your coffee table, or others.

Hold on! The Omni is about 4 to 5 feet in diameter and is sloped toward its center. It's a low-friction surface with a narrowly grooved exterior. A circular handle surrounds your waist, affording you a degree of much-needed … Read more

Microsoft's Marc Whitten on why Xbox One offers a better value

LOS ANGELES -- Marc Whitten thinks the Xbox One provides an overall better value than the competition.

"I believe we're delivering an immense value," he explained to me at a meeting within Microsoft's booth at E3 2013. The Microsoft corporate vice president and chief product officer for Xbox believes that when you consider everything Xbox One is offering -- with its lineup of exclusive titles and ambitious live TV integration -- there's enough justification for spending the extra $100 come this holiday season.

The company's direct console gaming competitor, Sony, undercut Xbox One by $… Read more

Forget the new Kinect, what happened with the original?

LOS ANGELES -- So when is that cool, killer game arriving for my Xbox 360 Kinect?

With all the noise about the upcoming Xbox One, the new Kinect, and now a hefty slate of next-generation games unveiled here at E3 on Monday, it's glaring just how little attention was paid to the original Kinect.

Microsoft, you remember the Kinect, right? It's the original motion sensor peripheral that helped reinvigorate sales of the Xbox 360 and add a few years to the lifespan of the console. It was an unmitigated success from a sales perspective, as 24 million units of the peripheral have been sold … Read more

Microsoft's game plan for E3 2013: Damage control

Microsoft's pre-E3 Xbox One reveal event in Redmond, Wash., wasn't a presentation targeted at gamers. In fact, most gamers hated it. Why? Because Microsoft used the opportunity to boast about the Xbox One's live TV integration and the seamless experience it will supposedly provide.

That mantra won't fly at E3 2013 in Los Angeles, where the priority is always games. The company teased with some details about what the Xbox One's gaming future will look like, but as of now it's still mostly unknown.

Here's a preview of what Microsoft needs to accomplish … Read more

New sex sim aims for hottest VR action ever

With all the recent advances in user interfaces and head-mounted displays, there's little reason virtual sex can't offer a truly 21st century, nearly realistic experience.

That's the sentiment behind VRSexKit.com, a set of sex simulators in the works from ThriXXX, a company that has been a leader in adapting technologies like Microsoft's Kinect for virtual-reality sex play.

Though ThriXXX was quick to figure out how to use the Kinect in virtual sex, founder Brad Abram now believes Microsoft's motion-control camera system doesn't offer a "granular enough" experience. … Read more

Microsoft to launch Kinect for Windows sensor in 2014

Microsoft will finally deliver a Kinect sensor for Windows sometime next year.

The company announced Thursday that the Kinect for Windows sensor will use the same set of technologies key to the new Kinect sensor for the Xbox One, both of which will allow people to issue commands using voice and gestures.

The sensor will include a high-definition color camera and a noise-isolating multi-microphone array. Also part of the system will be a technology called Time-of-Flight, which measures how long it takes for photons to bounce off a person or object. Combined, these features promise greater accuracy and precision in … Read more