New Kinect for Windows out next year
Standing by your gaming rig despite the new console hype? Lamenting the lack of Kinect support? Fear not, friend. Microsoft has you covered
Microsoft has confirmed that it will be releasing a Kinect 2.0 sensor for Windows next year, along with an SDK for developers to start tinkering with.
The new Kinect 2.0 for Windows will use the same technology as the new Xbox One Kinect, which means it’ll arrive packing a HD colour camera and a microphone which can pick out your commands among the background noise of crowded rooms.
Super sensor
Impressively, the new Kinect sensor can “measure the time it takes individual photons to rebound off an object or person to create unprecedented accuracy”. Clever stuff. So clever in fact, that it’s able to detect slight wrist rotations, and even the wrinkles in your clothes.
The expanded field of view also means that more rooms will be suitable for arm flailing during games or, if you prefer, changing slides in PowerPoint.
Up to six skeletons (or people, if you’re less morbid) can be tracked at once, and it’s accurate enough to track the tips of your hand and thumb.
All this can take place in dim lighting conditions too, thanks to a new IR sensor.
We’ll find out more about Kinect 2.0 at Microsoft’s BUILD event in June, so stay tuned.
[via Kinect for Windows blog]