Can kinect be the next big revolution from Microsoft? Gamers have got a glimpse of what Kinect is when it was launched on the Microsoft gaming console, Xbox 360. Kinect is a motion sensing and human tracking device, which enables players control action on screen without holding anything by only moving the body. Microsoft has seen Kinect sales much beyond its own expectations and has become among the fastest selling tech products on debut.
But Kinect is not all about just gaming. It could be heading for far more serious business with the company looking at newer applications. Researchers at Microsoft are working on developing non-gaming applications that would make this among the most powerful product to come out from Microsoft in the recent past.
With neither keyboard nor touch screen, but only a direct interaction with the machine, thanks to the powerful sensors and cameras that track your body?s movement, sky is the limit for applications. It could be a new way of using computers especially in a country like India where millions cannot read or write and could still use a computer.
It could influence how computing will be done in future, says Professor Andrew Blake, MD of Microsoft Research, Cambridge. Blake says this is a new way of interface with the computer?from green screen and cursor, to mouse and windows, touch and multitouch to now no touch or ?Natural User Interface? technology.
Blake is a key member of the Kinect team. He leads research in Computer Vision at Microsoft Research. The Vision team has built the machine learning technology inside the Xbox Kinect human motion tracking system. The Vision team has built product software for image editing and video processing and developed stereoscopic cameras that incorporate a sense of depth in video communications. Blake was in Pune to be part of Microsoft Research India?s annual research meet, Techvista that showcases the latest in computer science technology.
Blake said the Kinect tracks 20 body joints in real time, recognises the face and voice and opens up magical experiences. ?The new technology is not just about gaming,? says Blake as he provides examples of its non-gaming use. It could be in the operation theatre assisting the doctor. The doctor could get a get a good view of the body part being operated by moving the hand.
There is a buzz already about Kinect, that is so far only available on the Xbox 360, would be coming to the PC. That would be the beginning.