Now, instead of jumping around in front of our TVs like fools, we can do it in front of our computer.
Microsoft has loosened the reigns on the Kinect for Windows SDK, allowing for commercial development of apps that utilize the popular motion detection hardware for its videogame console, and said it will formally launch of the SDK coming next year.
Microsoft first posted the beta in late June, with the restriction that the SDK was licensed for non-commercial use only. So it seems kind of strange that they would post a long story on the Press Pass site highlighting all the commercial uses for Kinect, but there you have it.
The news is almost buried in the story on the numerous projects built on Kinect. “To that end, today Microsoft announced that the Kinect for Windows commercial program will launch early next year, giving global businesses the tools they need to develop applications on Kinect that could take their businesses and industries in new directions,” the company wrote.
Kinect has done a fantastic job of revitalizing the Xbox 360, which has been on the market for six years, ancient in videogame terms. For gamers, Kinect is a great excuse to get off the couch and physically move around, rather than sit there with a controller in your hands to manipulate the game. But for desktop users, Microsoft has ideas that go well beyond gaming, as evidenced by this video, posted to its Press Pass site.
Windows-based Kinect apps have already appeared in areas like medicine, physical rehabilitation and education. For $149, just a little more than a Webcam, Kinect gives you 3D motion capture, an RGB camera, facial and voice recognition, a microphone, and depth sensors. Apple would sell the same thing for five times the price.
Microsoft said that since the SDK for Windows was launched, more than 200 businesses, including 25 Fortune 500 companies, have begun doing some kind of Kinect development, including Toyota, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, and Razorfish.
The Kinect for Windows SDK beta includes drivers, APIs for raw sensor streams and human motion tracking, and technical documentation.
