Ballmer promises Kinect for PC

[SmokeyRobinson]

Microsoft chief executive officer Steve Ballmer has hinted to the BBC that he will formally support PC use of the Kinect motion controller in the near future, saying Microsoft "will support that in a formal way in the right time".
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/click_online/9348265.stm


Any thoughts on the applications it will open with?

Im thinking an Avatar Kinect like deal which just opened for XBOX
Gaming support

But what else do you think Microsoft will release it with? I dont think Kinect based controls are ready for prime time yet.

 

[dolphin842]

Hopefully they will start by just providing formal Windows drivers. By giving easy access to the sensor data (like Apple does with the accelerometer/gyro on the iPhone), developers should be able to create their own interfaces and apps more quickly.

 

[gkarris]

Ballmer and Kinect - how appropriate...

 

[jav6454]

This won't work as well as for the 360. The 360 is almost universal hardware, so anything that takes advantage of that and Kinect is great.

A Windows environment is by far universal. So many different hardware choices from bad/poor to awesome. Disaster can be spelled; however, we can all regard this as a game with systems specs and maybe it can turn out for good.

 

[Liquorpuki]

I've thought about it and I have no clue what they'd do with a Kinect sensor on a PC. If they want to do the full body motion capture of the XBox, that would require a huge gap between the monitor and user and would be impractical for anyone who sits while using a computer, which is most everybody. If they wanted to do hands only motion capture, the sensor would still be hard to use with a laptop that gets moved around a lot. Also what would you do with the motion control? I guess you could move stuff around the desktop but the Kinect can't replace any application where you have to type.

I hope they end up doing something cool but for now, it seems like a dumb idea.

 

[Stella]

Having Kinetic for PC doesn't necessarily mean it'll be for consumers only. I can't see PC gaming doing particularly well with kinetic, if you've got a PC in a small office room , not a lot of space to play with.

There is quite a lot potential for industrial applications.

 

[LethalWolfe]

Why the assumption that it is just for gaming? Given all the ways people have already hacked the Kinect to do everything from be the 'eyes' for a Roomba to assisting surgeons using robotic instruments I see this as opening up the doors for people to do a ton of versatile things w/the Kinect w/o having to hack their way into it.


Lethal