Microsoft South Africa has confirmed that Kinect for Windows will be available in SA as soon as June 2012. Microsoft’s Kinect hands-free motion sensor launched in November 2010, adding a new way to interact with and play games.
It didn’t take too long for PC hobbyists to strip some down, tinker with the insides, and get it up and running on PCs. We’ve seen some interesting implementations of the device, from a 3D scanner that can recreate your body in Minecraft, to potential medical and industrial applications.
Caren Crous, Kinect product and marketing manager in South Africa, said: “This is a game-changer for Microsoft and the industry. This isn’t about video games or Windows. This is about the future of computing, and will create entirely new ways of working with computers.”
Crous says there are numerous applications for the device in the education field as well, including for people with special needs. Kinect for Windows includes the ability to track the head, neck and arms of either a seated or standing user, which broadens its functionality significantly.
“The Xbox team is also hard at work on the 1.5 release, which will be available at the end of May,” said Crous. “New to this version is Kinect Studio, an application that allows developers to record, playback and debug clips of users engaging with their applications.”
“Also coming is what we call ‘seated’ or ’10-joint’ skeletal tracking which provides the capability to track the head, neck and arms of either a seated or standing user working in both default and near mode. There will be four new languages for speech recognition – French, Spanish, Italian and Japanese, and Xbox will release new language packs that enable speech recognition for the way a language in spoken in different regions,” added Crous.
Microsoft has already released the Kinect for Windows sensor and software development kit (SDK) for developers to get to grips with.
The Kinect for Windows device is able to focus at shorter distances; 40-50cm “Near Mode” compared to the Xbox version’s minimum required of 1.8-2.4m.
Kinect for Windows is RRPed at US$250; US$100 more than the Xbox Kinect. Local pricing has not yet been made available.
Microsoft claims the price difference is because the Xbox peripheral is “subsidised” by game sales.
Related Articles
Kinect 2 added to next-gen talk
Ubisoft: Microsoft not supporting Kinect enough
Kinect vs Move – one year later
Forum discussion
Join the conversation