Xbox One Kinect gestures very different to demos

Microsoft’s Xbox One ships with a Kinect 2.0 camera in the box, a plan that Microsoft hasn’t reneged on since the reveal of the console in early May 2013. At their press event to show off the console, Microsoft’s Yusuf Medhi demonstrated their vision for Kinect and how users would interact with the console without using a controller.

Medhi’s demo felt a lot like watching someone run through the computer interface in Minority report. Swipes, click-and-drags, pinch-to-zoom and pinch-to-close actions were all demonstrated and the demo looked very slick and fine-tuned.

But the software that will be installed on every Xbox One in the mandatory patch that is required once you connect the console up to the internet does not support those gestures. In fact, the methods of moving around the UI with your hands are vastly different. An Xbox One developer on Reddit answered fan’s questions about Kinect and the gesture support, and this is what he had to say.

“This is something I haven’t seen us show yet. There aren’t any swiping gestures for UI navigation like what was shown at the reveal. You start with an open palm at about chest level for a hand to show up, waving is gone. To scroll left or right, you “grab” the virtual dashboard pane and form a fist. Then you can move your fist left and right. Very much like click and drag in maps. Selection is done by pressing. Hence the large metro square and rectangle designs. Makes pressing virtual buttons easier,” the developer said.

For selections and pressing buttons, a forward push with an open palm is the equivalent of a left-click on the button.

This is very similar, in fact, to how we currently use the mouse on the Modern UI in Windows 8. Making a fist and swiping left or right is equivalent to scrolling your mouse wheel up and down.

Kinect’s gestures, for me, was one of the major selling points that Microsoft demonstrated at their May event, and I’m disappointed that my Minority Report experience will have to wait.