Kinect Potential
Andy Ruffell / 14 years ago
3 days and $3000. That’s all it took to crack the Kinect.
Adafruit originally announced a $1000 reward for the first user to produce working drivers, though this prize was subsequently raised to $2000, then $3000.
The first few hacks are merely a Proof-Of-Concept, but still show amazing potential for it with a PC.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7QrnwoO1-8A[/youtube]
How about a quick run through how the hacked Kinect works?
- An infra-red light-source bathes the room with light.
- A Infra-red sensor uses the reflections to calculate the distance to each object detected.
- The camera films the scene, generating a colour image.
- The data from the two cameras is used to create 3d polygons, on which the image is stretched, creating a 3d image, complete with textures.
At the moment, as the only video so far was created using just one Kinect, the render is more akin to cardboard cutouts, but add 3 or more devices in and you have an extremely efficient method of rendering rooms in realtime. This brings closer the possibility of virt-real-reality and interactive TV shows coming several steps closer, for a fraction of the current price.
That is if, of course, Microsoft doesn’t cancel the products…