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Tag: Kinect

  • Madden NFL 13 Hits Stores, Cover Man Calvin Johnson Says Gameplay Is “Ridiculous”

    Madden NFL 13 came out today at stores throughout North America. According to makers EA, it’s a big one for the Madden legacy.

    “Madden NFL 13 is the biggest game-changer in the history of the franchise,” said Cam Weber, GM of American Football at EA SPORTS. “Madden NFL 13 will deliver to our consumers the most realistic gameplay ever, and innovations like the Infinity Engine will completely redefine how fans will play Madden NFL. With deep new gameplay innovation, social integration, and an overhaul of the audio and visual presentation, Madden NFL 13 stands as a benchmark entry for the franchise.”

    According to Detroit Lions receiver Calvin Johnson (also known as “Megatron”) who graces the cover, the gameplay is “ridiculous”.

    The game is powered by the new Infinity Engine, and delivers what EA calls “physics you can feel on every play.”

    “Core gameplay innovations such as total control passing, ball hawk and read and react defensive AI, combine to create the most realistic Madden NFL game ever,” the company says.

    There’s also a new “Connected Careers” mode, which lets players play with up to 32 friends in a league. “Weekly, seasonal and milestone goals set the benchmarks for progress, and fans can not only choose to make history as a created or real life player or coach, but also relive the legendary careers of all-time greats including Walter Payton, Michael Irvin, Steve Young and more,” EA says.

    Of course, there’s a social media element, with a virtual Twitter feed, and social integration/team management from PCs, tablets and smartphones.

    Other new features include a new “Ultimate Team Edition,” with new trading cards and a new card management system, Kinect integration for the Xbox version, a 3-D powered broadcast booth with Jim Nantz and Phil Simms and various bonus content.

    The game retails for $59.99 on the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3, $49.99 on the Nintendo Wii, and $39.99 on PlayStation Vita.

    Now let’s just hope that Calvin can avoid the dreaded Madden curse.

  • Kinect 2 Preview Photo Leaked Online

    The gaming industry is experiencing the first console cycle change-over to happen in the age of Twitter and other powerful social media outlets. Where in the past gamers had to wait for hardware manufacturers to announce upcoming console features, now they only have to wait for the leaks to occur.

    Just this week, a Microsoft job posting implied that the next generation Xbox console will be released within 18 months. 18 months is just enough time for game developers to ready a respectable launch title, and there is no doubt that major game developers already have access to early software development kits for the next Xbox. And with developers receiving SDKs for next-gen consoles and accessories, leaks are bound to happen.

    This week, Twitter user @superDaE posted a photo that is claimed to be a demonstration of what the next generation Kinect accessory will be capable of. Below is the original tweet and photo, which shows the demonstration taking place within an application called “Microsoft Xbox Studio for Durango.” Durango is a well-known code name for the next-generation Xbox console.

    The picture is not interesting simply because it confirms that a new Kinect is on the way. A different leak months ago clued gamers into the fact that the new Kinect would be launched alongside the next-gen Xbox. What is fascinating about the picture is how much more precise it looks than the current Kinect. It appears to have a much greater ability to separate players from background noise, and the fidelity of the device looks good enough to pick up individual fingers. Sign language-type commands could make the next generation of Xbox gaming very interesting.

  • Skyrim 1.7 Enters Beta On Steam, Available On Xbox 360 And PS3 Soon

    After successfully publishing the first DLC pack for the Xbox 360 version of Skyrim, Bethesda is hard at work pushing new updates to Skyrim through various patches and title updates. The latest update to Skyrim comes in the form of the 1.7 beta that’s currently available on Steam.

    Version 1.7 doesn’t have anything game changing like in the 1.6 update that included mounted combat, but it has quite a few fixes for the Kinect support in the Xbox 360 version. Here’s the full change list:

    BUG FIXES

    General memory and stability optimizations
    Fixed crash related to new water shaders
    Fixed rare crash related to dragon landings
    Fixed logic error with loading screens from add-ons (Xbox 360)
    Using vampiric grip and swimming no longer prevents swimming animation from playing afterwards
    Improved recognition with Kinect voice commands (Xbox 360)
    Kinect-enabled dragon language shouts for French, German, Italian and Spanish work properly (Xbox 360)
    Fixed issue with Dawnguard Kinect-enabled dragon shouts for French, German, Italian and Spanish (Xbox 360)
    Fixed issue with Dawnguard Kinect-enabled dragon shouts for French, German, Italian and Spanish (Xbox 360)

    This update could point to Dawnguard launching on PC and PS3 soon. Speaking of PS3, the features that were found in 1.6, including mounted combat, will be rolled into the 1.7 update for that platform. A lot of PS3 owners can sometimes feel like second-class citizens when it comes to Bethesda games, but at least they’re trying to make it right this time. Be thankful it’s not a repeat of the utter lack of support the PS3 version of Fallout 3 received.

  • Find Pants That Actually Fit With Kinect

    Find Pants That Actually Fit With Kinect

    Shopping for pants is hard. I know that by watching my female friends spend hours in clothing stores only to walk out with a single pair of pants. I myself am too terrified to even shop for pants as I’m pretty sure my waistline grows three sizes each day thus making my search for size 38 pants already obsolete. If only there was an easier way to find the perfect pair of pants…

    The use of ellipsis was meant to imply that, yes, there is an easier way. That easier way comes from Kinect, the camera peripheral that powers your not-so-favorite Xbox 360 games. Besides being a dragon shout simulator, the Kinect is also used in a lot of market applications. It’s so awesome that Microsoft even funded numerous teams as part of the Kinect Accelerator to apply the technology to various fields.

    Today’s field is fashion, hence the aforementioned pants struggles. The absolute worst part of shopping for clothes is trying them on. Bodymetrics has found an elegant solution through the use of Kinect that scans your body and lets you know what clothes will fit you. It even lets you try on the clothes digitally to let you know how they look.

    Sure, some people love that feeling of walking into a store and spending hours trying to find the perfect pair of jeans. I, on the other hand, want nothing more than to walk in and walk out with a pair of jeans that is guaranteed to fit me. That’s what Bodymetrics does with the Kinect and it’s awesome. I’m sure plenty of men (and women) would agree with me that the time saved clothes shopping could be better applied elsewhere.

    Check out the video below to see how Bodymetrics is using Kinect to power the future of clothes fitting. Here’s hoping this technology makes it into clothing stores soon so I no longer have to suffer the indignity of accidentally walking into the women’s changing room. Well, they could visibly label changing rooms, but the Kinect idea is better.

  • Kinect-Powered Interactive NUads Coming To Xbox Live

    Are you ready for commercials on Xbox Live? No? What if I told you you could interact with them via the Kinect controller, would that change your mind? Still no? Look, I get it that you don’t want any kind of advertising when you’re playing with your game console, but since you can’t stop the inevitable from happening, aren’t ads that respond to Kinect commands better than the typical 30-second TV commercials that won’t stop appearing and interrupting a TV show?

    Look, I know it’s a hard sell, but you might as well embrace it, because the technology is here and these kinds of advertisements–NUads–are on the way. The good thing is, if you don’t like them, you can always wave them away, right? One hopes, anyway.

    These NUads offer a new kind of interactive technology, powered, of course, by vocal and movement commands from the Kinect. From Microsoft’s perspective, these interactive commercials will be a “game changer” for the typical 30-second TV commercial due the viewers ability to engage the advert directly, provided you consider a response to Kinect command engaging. A quote in Microsoft’s press release reveals the idea behind NUads, besides the collection of user data:

    “NUads marks the beginning of a new era for TV advertising. It delivers the one thing traditional TV advertising is missing — engagement,” said Ross Honey, general manager of Xbox LIVE Entertainment and Advertising. “We developed NUads to breathe new life into the standard 30-second spot. With NUads, brands can get real-time feedback from audiences, making TV advertising actionable for the first time.”

    It’s odd that TV advertising is mentioned, because besides being the output device, the TV really serves no other purpose in relation to the Xbox or Xbox Live. It’s not the same as CBS pushing the latest Cialis ad copy to aging husbands who happen to be watching “the big game.” Furthermore, another reason to disagree with the “TV advertising” label is because the video for NUads distinctly says, “XBOX Live Advertising introduces NUads.”

    Aside from the output device, the modern television doesn’t come into play with Xbox Live, especially in relation to broadcasting commercials. Anyway, here’s a sneak peak of what Xbox Live users can expect to see soon:


    As indicated throughout, the Kinect will play a major role in the interactivity promised by NUads:

    Consumers can enter the poll with a simple wave of a hand or a voice command while viewing the commercial. Consumers get a real-time tally of the answers so they can see how other Xbox LIVE subscribers are voting, and advertisers get real-time feedback from consumers to help inform future campaigns.

    While the bold section emphasizes the Kinect, the last part of the quote should be of interest as well, especially for those of you who like to maintain an idea of privacy. Not only can advertisers get feedback based on user interaction, as Geeks Are Sexy points out, Microsoft has applied for a patent that can track a user’s mood based on facial expressions. Furthermore, based on this data, appropriate ads are given. Does this mean if you’re best girl just dumped you, ads for Match.com will be served to you?

    It sure sounds like it.

    Is this the kind of advertising you’d like to see in the future or is your privacy of more concern to you than get tailored advertising? Then there’s this line of thinking, courtesy of Reddit: “If XBOX wants to put advertisements on their dashboard, then users should not have to pay for XBOX Live.” What about real commercials in Xbox Live? Shouldn’t that remove the burden from the paying public as well?

    [Lead Image Courtesy]

  • Android Gets First Game From Microsoft: Kinectimals

    One of the earliest Xbox 360 Kinect games that we ever got to see was Kinectimals. It’s an adorable little game where kids can play with their own virtual monster cats like tigers and lions. The game must have been successful as Microsoft ported it to Windows Phone and iOS.

    In the spirit of supporting all platforms with their games, Microsoft has decided to release the mobile version of Kinectimals on Android. This marks Microsoft’s first game for the Google-created operating system. The software publisher only yesterday published My Xbox Live on Android.

    For those who aren’t familiar with the mobile version of Kinectimals, it’s essentially the same as the console version. Players will take care of and raise a savage jungle cat of their choice in a pristine environment. The player will then be tasked to feed the animal and keep it happy. It’s like Tamagotchi, but with terrible English wordplay instead of terrible Japanese wordplay.

    If you, or your child, own Kinectimals on the Xbox 360, the mobile version has a few treats for you. You can use the app to unlock five new animals in the console version. This is the downloadable content of the future, folks – buy a game twice to unlock features between the two.

    Android Police points out that the release of Kinectimals on Android might be more than just the software publisher hoping to wring out a few more sales from one of its franchises. It could be Microsoft extending the hearty handshake of peace so that Google will put more of their apps on Windows Phone. Even though Microsoft has Bing for everything Google, I’m sure Microsoft would appreciate support from the biggest search engine on the planet.

    If you wish to download Kinectimals for Android, it’s over on Google Play. It’s only $2.99 so it costs about the same as a Tamagotchi from 1996. As an added bonus: Kinectimals won’t wake you up at 3 a.m. complaining about being hungry therefore conditioning you to never want children.

  • Amazon Instant Video Comes To Xbox 360

    Amazon Instant Video Comes To Xbox 360

    Microsoft is usually king of the content acquisition deals. They get more content like Netflix sooner and usually in better forms than the competition. That’s why it was so weird to see the PS3 getting Amazon Instant Video before the Xbox 360. The Sony faithful can no longer hold the Amazon flag over their castle anymore, however, as the service has now made its way to the Xbox 360.

    The service is essentially the same as it is on the PS3. Users can buy and rent the massive collection of movies and TV shows available to users through Amazon and watch them in hi-def on the Xbox 360. Amazon Prime members can also access the large catalog of instant streaming titles which puts it directly in competition with Netflix. Unlike the PS3, the Xbox 360 version requires that users have a Xbox Live Gold membership to use instant streaming.

    The Amazon Instant Video app also got an Xbox 360 centric facelift with its conversion to Microsoft’s console. It now sports a Metro interface in line with the rest of the console. It goes without saying that the app also supports the Kinect accessory for gesture and voice recognition.

    Amazon is also introducing a new feature to its Instant Video service alongside the arrival of the Xbox 360 app. It’s called Watchlist and it basically allows users to create a list of things they wish to watch at a later time. When the time comes for the family to sit down to enjoy Santa Claus and the Ice Cream Bunny, they can easily find and start watching the holiday classic in seconds.

    If you’re an Xbox 360 owner and find the choices offered by Netflix and Hulu Plus just not doing it for you, Amazon Instant Video might just be your ticket. They offer a lot of series, especially through the service’s buying and renting feature, that other services don’t have. For instance, the first season of Game of Thrones is available at $2.99 per episode.

    Amazon also recently inked a deal with Paramount that will see the studio’s numerous films coming to Instant Video. If you ever wanted to have a marathon featuring the likes of Mission Impossible, Forrest Gump and Mean Girls; now is your chance.

    As mentioned, users can also access instant streaming alongside buying and renting videos through Amazon Prime. Prime is $79 a year and gives you access to instant streaming and free two-day shipping. I’m going on to my third year of being an Amazon Prime member now and it really does pay itself in free shipping costs over the years. If you’re only going to use it for the video, however, I suggest you stick with Netflix.

  • Harry Potter For Kinect Coming This Fall

    Harry Potter For Kinect Coming This Fall

    Kinect Star Wars did really well for LucasArts. Despite being one of the most critically panned games of the decade, droves of people still bought it. In essence, it’s pretty much like the video game version of the Star Wars prequels. Warner Bros. is hoping to capitalize on that success with their own massive franchise that appeals to pre-teens and dumb parents who don’t know good games.

    Warner Bros. Interactive has announced that Harry Potter for Kinect will be a thing coming this fall. It will be similar to Kinect Star Wars in that the game will be a collection of loosely tied together experiences that somehow is able to call itself a game. I expect that it will appeal to the same group of people who went absolutely gaga over Kinect Star Wars with the added audience of college freshmen who think playing Quidditch behind the library on a dustmaster 5000 makes them look cool.

    The game does have a few good things going for it though. Unlike Kinect Star Wars which was just a random collection of events from the films and TV series (and dance-offs), Harry Potter for Kinect will take players through all eight films. In a move that should really excite some hardcore Potter fans, the game will scan your face into the game so that you can be a part of the magical wizard world of Harry Potter.

    “Harry Potter for Kinect will engage Harry Potter fans old and new by bringing them into the wizarding world as truly active participants,” said Samantha Ryan, Senior Vice President, Production and Development, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment. “Kids and parents will enjoy recreating their favourite Harry Potter adventures, from flying a broomstick in a Quidditch match, to battling pixies and duelling other wizards.”

    The game will diverge from letting you live out your own fantasy of being a wizard as players will also take control of characters from the films. The only activities mentioned so far in the game include visiting Ollivanders, choosing a house at Hogwarts, and fighting Voldemort in the final battle. The screenshots also show that players will be fighting the troll and pulling mandrakes from pots.

    As any good Kinect game worth its salt should know, the real money maker comes in the form of mini-games. Harry Potter for Kinect will not be at a disadvantage as it promises numerous competitive mini-games for you to challenge your friends at. Here’s hoping we get an unforgivable curse duel that ends when one player successfully casts Avada Kedavra.

    As with Kinect Star Wars, you can expect a game that appeals to a lot of people, but will probably be panned critically. It’s too early to tell though so maybe Warner Bros. will prove that this Kinect thing is pretty good after all.

  • Kung Fu Superstar, an Xbox Kinect Fighting Game, Announced

    Finally, a game for what Microsoft’s Kinect peripheral was really intended: learning kung fu. Kinesthetic Games today announced it is developing an action game for Xbox 360 that will use the Kinect to teach players to fight using kung fu techniques. Players will take on the role of Danny Cheng, a young martial artist who’s ambition is to become a martial arts movie star.

    Though Kinesthetic Games is looking at making the game for different platforms and playable using classic controllers, it is clear that Kung Fu Superstar has been designed with the Kinect in mind. The game studio has released an announcement trailer, seen below, which demonstrates the concept. From the video’s description:

    In a ground-breaking rethink of fighting games, players will use their full body and/or a controller to learn authentic martial arts techniques and level up Danny’s fighting abilities, as they improve their own knowledge of Kung Fu. Players then put their skills to the test on the movie set, where Danny takes part in dramatic fight choreographies and performs in explosive action sequences. With multiple movie sets and plots to explore, colourful characters to be met along the way, Danny’s own overarching storyline, as well as a platform for learning real martial arts in a fun and engaging way, Kung Fu Superstar will open up a world of possibilities to players of every background.

    According to a EuroGamer interview, Kinesthetic Games was founded one year ago by Kostas Zarifis. Zarifis previously worked at Lionhead studios and was part of development on Fable 2, Fable 3, and Fable: The Journey. Kung Fu Superstar is currently in early development, and Kinesthetic is looking for a publisher for the title.

    Though this game is still a long way off, it’s clear that the idea behind the game came from a true fan of kung fu cinema. Hopefully the game will start the player off in low-budget movie projects with horrible dialogue, and by the end of the game have them in blockbuster sci-fi/kung fu crossover movies. Using the Kinect for magic or martial arts seems to be common sense. The only worry is that the developers stray too far from their original idea and end up with an over-broad disaster such as Star Wars Kinect.

  • I Like Turtlebot2: Hobby Robotics Gives Your Laptop Legs

    I Like Turtlebot2: Hobby Robotics Gives Your Laptop Legs

    This motion sensing robot from Willow Garage and Yujin Robot turns your laptop into a moving robot. So the next time you look for your laptop it may just be taking a stroll around your house.

    The real reason for this technology is for robotics nerds to have a Robot Operating System (ROS) compatible base for building your own robot. At its core it is just a basic robot. It has its brains in the form of the laptop, a power supply built into the base, the start of a body, and a Microsoft Kinect built in to give the robot eyes and ears.

    Students and teachers of robotics are falling in love with the Kinect. As a digital set of eyes and ears, it has some wonderful applications of robotics. Students have used it as a way to control robots, and with Turtlebot, they use it as sensors for the robots themselves.

    Turtlebot was designed for students as a low cost, yet highly advanced introduction to robotics. The design of Turtlebot is simple, and it works right out of the box. The challenge is to use ROS to create new and advanced robotics using the basic framework.

    If we get people started in robotics from a young age, we will be able to see some great things from them as their knowledge progresses. Having them jumping right into ROS from the get go, already puts them on the right track to learning the current state of robotics without having to rehash what has already been done. If they jump right into it, and see that they can do some amazing things from the beginning, students are more likely to stick with a subject that is difficult to get into.

    Follow these links for some cool and/or wacky things going on in robotics today. It will be interesting to see what the students of today will come up with tomorrow.

    Paralyzed Woman Drinks Coffee Using a Robotic Arm

    Guy Builds Functional Portal Turret in Robotics Class

    Flying Robots Synced So Well They Play Music Together

    Amazing Robot Can Jump 30 Feet High

    Meet The Robot That Eats And Poops To Power Itself

    [source: robots.net]

  • Kinect For Windows SDK 1.5 Released

    Kinect For Windows SDK 1.5 Released

    Kinect for Windows has been one of the coolest projects that Microsoft is personally involved with. Windows applications being built using Kinect continually impress me more so than any games that use Kinect on the Xbox 360. It speaks to the power of the Kinect platform as an interface.

    With that being said, Microsoft has updated the Kinect for Windows SDK and Runtime to version 1.5. The updates adds a host new capabilities and tools to make building Kinect-powered programs easier. The updates range from new tools like Kinect Studio to new languages in Kinect’s speech recognition.

    Starting with the new tools, developers can now play around with the above mentioned Kinect Studio. It allows developers to record and play back Kinect data. This should make testing easier since you don’t have to have the person perform the movements over and over again.

    Microsoft has released a set of Human Interface Guidelines that detail best practices when creating Natural User Interfaces with Kinect. On a related note, the Face Tracking SDK is now available. It tracks head position, location of eyebrows, shape of the mouth and more.

    The skeletal tracking capabilities have been greatly enhanced with this release. The biggest update is the addition of Seated Skeletal Tracking. One of the major problems with Kinect on Xbox 360 is that it can’t detect movement very well when the person is sitting down. With Kinect for Windows, it can now detect a 10-joint head/shoulders/arms skeletons while ignoring the leg and hip joints.

    Skeletal Tracking has also been added to Near Mode. It supports Default and Seated tracking modes. The idea here is that Kinect can be used to track movement in applications that involve displays which people need to interact with on a personal level.

    Performance has seen improvements with the mapping of a depth frame being sped up to five times from the last update. The Kinect device will also keep depth and color frames in sync with each other. The RGB image quality has also been increased with 640×480 now running at 30 FPS and YUV 640×480 running at 15 FPS.

    Adding in a feature from Kinect for Xbox 360, it’s now easier to build applications that allow users to control 3D avatars. It does this by providing Joint Orientation information for the skeletons being tracked. The Joint Orientation is offered in two flavors – Hierarchical Rotation based on bone relationship or Absolute Orientation using Kinect Camera coordinates.

    Kinect is also becoming more internationally minded with Microsoft releasing four new language for speech recognition – French, Spanish, Italian and Japanese. They also released new language packs to support different dialects based on region. This is especially important for English as Kinect has to contend with differences between the U.S., Canada, UK, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand.

    Finally, the Kinect for Windows hardware is now launching in Hong Kong, South Korea, Singapore and Taiwan. It will be available in 15 additional countries (mostly European) in the following months. Microsoft is a global company so I wouldn’t be surprised if they had Kinect for Windows hardware in every major country by the end of next year.

    It really is exciting to see Kinect for Windows being supported like this. I was concerned that Microsoft would treat it as just a side project to their big money maker – Kinect for Xbox 360. I have been proven wrong, but it wouldn’t have been possible without the amazing support that Kinect for Windows has so far received. To see some of the amazing things people are doing with Kinect, check out the Kinect Accelerator finalists.

    To download the latest SDK and Runtime, just hit up the Kinect Developer page. It’s easy and free. You can’t beat that combination.

  • ‘Leap’ is the Most Accurate Motion Controller to Date

    Motion controllers were supposed to be a big deal for gaming. Then we actually played them for an extended period of time. Let’s just say, that right now, we are in the dark ages of an emerging technology.

    Welcome to the light.

    The hands-free motion controller was introduced by Nintendo, with the Wii, then improved upon with the Microsoft Kinect and Playstation Move. But the Leap Motion takes motion gestures to a whole new level. Users now have the ability to control with their fingers, or the tip of a pen, at an accuracy of 1 millimeter.

    Instead of a broad arm gesture telling the device what to do, you know can see the smallest movement being interpreted on the screen. The company that develops it says that it is 200 times more sensitive than anything on the market today. Part of this may be due to the small-in-comparison space that the Leap “inhabits”.

    The Leap creates a three-dimensional interaction space” of four cubic feet. Not as much as it’s gaming counterparts, but more than enough to interact with your desktop in some interesting ways. According to the company, the sentors are more responsive than a touch screen or a mouse.

    Right now, you can sign up to become a developer, as CEO Michael Buckwald explains. “We want to create as vibrant a developer ecosystem as possible, and we’re reaching out to developers in all sorts of.” I would think that this would be a developers dream. There are so many interesting possibilities to explore with the Leap.

    “We believe that ultimately, the sheer number of use cases for this technology are so great that the value can only be realized by making it open,” Buckwald said. “So think what would have happened if the mouse had been initially been released as a closed technology. The impact would have been a tiny, tiny percentage of what the impact was because it was an open system that anyone could develop for.”

    Leap has received over a thousand requests from developers, but they are expecting that number to grow exponentially now that it is getting some major news coverage. Their plan is to sift through the applicants in the next few months, starting off with developers in the fields of Medicine , gaming, engineering, science, research, and education.”

    They are expected to cost $70.

    [via: Gizmodo]

  • Apple TV May Get Apple’s Own Version Of Kinect

    The Apple rumor mill has been in high gear these days. What with reports of an iPad Mini, the new iPhone, and the iTV, speculation about what Apple’s got coming down the product pipeline has been rampant. Reports about Apple’s supposed foray into the HDTV market with a device alternately called either the iTV or the Apple TV (not to be confused with the set-top box), have played a pretty sizable role in that speculation. There has been speculation about the TV’s size, its shape, its price, and its features (Siri? FaceTime?).

    One feature that’s bounced around the rumor mill but hasn’t picked up a lot of traction, though, is motion control. This rumor – often dismissed – suggests that Apple’s HDTV will be getting the same kind of motion- and voice-activated interface that Microsoft introduced with their Kinect system. With a system like this in place, you wouldn’t need Apple’s remote app on your iPhone or iPad. You wouldn’t even need a physical remote. You could control your TV by talking to it and waving at it. This, of course, could pose a problem for enthusiastic sports fans, who may get tired of hearing Siri say things like “I’m sorry, I don’t understand ‘Pass the damn ball.’”

    At any rate, while a motion controlled iTV/Apple TV is still very much in doubt (as is the TV itself, for that matter), it appears that Apple really could implement the technology if they want. In fact, according to a report today from Business Insider, Apple’s “answer” to Kinect is older than Kinect itself. According to “a source familiar with the software,” the software started out as a hack designed to have devices shut themselves down when they detect the user leaving the room or waving goodbye. It was originally developed in 2005.

    When Apple decided to hang onto the software, the source assumed it was going to be incorporated into Macs with iSight cameras built in. That, of course, never happened, and Apple has apparently kept the tech under wraps ever since.

    The revelation that Apple has motion sensing technology already in the works prompts BI to suggest that it could go into the rumored iTV. Combined with Siri, this technology would instantly give Apple a strong competitor to Microsoft’s Kinect system, which has rapidly evolved into far more than a mere game controller.

    Of course, the technology could also be used in other ways: it could still be implemented in Macs, or it could be adapted for use in iOS devices, perhaps as an answer to Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich’s Face Unlock feature. Or it really could go into the iTV. Always assuming, of course, that Apple really is making an iTV, and really does plan to bring it to market. While that seems more and more likely of late, the fact is that the device is still basically just another rumor.

    But if it isn’t just a rumor, if Apple really is working on their own HDTV, then motion sensing technology (along with Siri, FaceTime, the App Store, and a few other unique Apple touches) could make for a pretty revolutionary HDTV, even if Apple doesn’t get the content delivery deals they reportedly want for it.

  • Xbox 360 Is King For 16th Straight Month, Sells 236,000 In April

    Microsoft now has a couple of things to be excited about as we close out the work week. On Thursday, they unveiled a huge overhaul of their Bing engine that will debut a three-column format and heavily integrate Facebook (and other social networks) into search results. Now, some good news on the gaming console front. For the 16th month in a row, the Xbox 360 is the most popular gaming console in the U.S.

    Courtesy of figures from NPD, Microsoft has announced that the Xbox 360 sold 236,000 units in the month of April. It held a 47% market share, which marks the 14th straight month that it has held a share over 40%.

    Not only that, but the total amount spent in the month by consumer on Xbox 360 products (console, games, and accessories) hit $261 million. That’s more than the PS3 and Wii combined.

    Xbox 360 software had a good month as well, according to the figures:

    During the month of April, “Kinect Star Wars” held the number one game title in the U.S. Xbox 360 held seven of the top 10 U.S. console game titles including: “Kinect Star Wars,” “The Witcher Two: Assassin of Kings Enhanced ED,” “Prototype 2,” “Tiger Woods PGA Tour 13,” “Mass Effect 3,” “NBA 2K12” and “Major League Baseball 2K12.” (Source: NPD Group, April 2012)

    Kinect Star Wars isn’t the only Xbox LIVE Arcade game getting some recognition. Yesterday, we told you that the XBLA port of the popular PC game Minecraft shattered records, as it was downloaded more times in its first 24 hours on the market than any other game in XBLA history.

    It’s possible that the sales figures for the Xbox 360 will continue to stay solid. Microsoft just announced a new promotional deal that offers the console, along with a Kinect system, for just $99. Of course, the catch is that you have to enter into a 2-year contract.

  • 75% Think Gaming Should Require Getting Off Your Ass

    What happened to the America I know and love? The one that devised an Xbox controller that doubled as a Hot Pocket delivery device? The one that said screw it, I’ll just spend six years getting the world record for highest Xbox LIVE gamerscore ever.

    You’re telling me that you want to get up and move while you play video games? Preposterous.

    If results from a recent survey are to be believed, that’s exactly what the U.S. adult population is telling us. UnitedHealth Group conducted a survey of over 1,000 adults and found that 75% of them thought that video games should “include a component that encourages physical activity.” Furthermore, 70% said that these physically active games can successfully supplement traditional exercise.

    More than half of those who responded said that incorporation motion into a video game would make them more likely to participate in physical activity.

    “Even as we continue to study the clinical impact of video games on health, this survey shows that there is a real interest among consumers in games that promote at least some physical activity,” said Richard Migliori, M.D., executive vice president of health services at UnitedHealth Group. “We believe that the intersection of health and video gaming holds enormous potential benefit for individuals, families and the entire health care system, and we are continuing to explore ways to make this a reality for consumers.”

    I guess this is good news for products like Microsoft’s Kinect. We know that it has been popular, and has helped Microsoft’s gaming division bolster many a recent earnings report. The company is looking to get even more Kinects into homes with a Xbox 360/Kinect bundle that starts at just $99 (with a contract).

    All I know is that while I found Wii Skiing delightful, the hours I spend motionless (save a few finger motions) playing Skyrim are my happiest gaming moments. What do you think? Can video games really complement traditional exercise? Will a high demand for such games see them make a bigger push into the market? Let us know in the comments.

  • Kinect May Be Coming To A Military Helicopter Near You

    The Army absolutely loves video games and the hardware that powers them. They use them as recruiting tools, training simulations, computer processors and now 3D tracking devices. It seems that the military has its eye on the Kinect hardware that Microsoft launched for the Xbox 360 back in 2010.

    According to TechNewsDaily, the military wants the Kinect for its use as a head tracking tool. The Army already uses such equipment, but it comes into the form of expensive helmets that pilots wear. If the technology powering Kinect could be implemented into the helmets, it would be a great cost effective maneuver for the Army.

    On top of Kinect features possibly coming to the combat helicopters of the future, the Army is also playing around with the idea of implementing “Minority Report” style displays and interactive elements. This would allow pilots to see enemy and friendly units in real time and even report on damage based on where the pilot is looking.

    Like always, technology that comes from the military makes its way into the private sector soon enough. The Army talks of a future where regular civilian vehicles like airplanes could be using similar head tracking technology in the next few years.

    Even though military technology is still pushing consumer tech, wouldn’t it be wild if video games started to be the dominating force in technology? The Kinect is already starting to get some pretty wild applications of its own that could innovate entire industries.

    Do you think video game technology will start to inspire more and more real world applications? Let us know in the comments.

  • Kinect Projects Life Size Holograms Via Videoconferencing Pod

    Researchers at Canada’s Queens University are experimenting with Kinect to create a videoconferencing pod that allows the users to project 3D life-size images of themselves via TeleHuman. TeleHuman allows the user to stand in a pod surrounded by kinect sensors, which capture their image from multiple angles. That information is then transferred onto another pod which displays a 3D image on the pod’s surface.

    The camera captures the user from 360 degrees, projecting the image on another pod in 3D. The other person can walk around the outside of the pod and view them in 3D from all angles.

    The technology looks pretty cool, but there are some disadvantages right now. For instance, the 3D image can only be viewed by one person, as it can only be seen from their perspective. This rules out speaking in front of a group of people, but does allow for one on one video chats. In this way, the new technology could be good for more intimate encounters with loved than your standard video chat.

    Having the person actually “standing in front of you” allows you to visualize nuances in their behavior more clearly. Body pose and eye gaze are evident, where they are not with current video chat.

    Judging from the video, the technology could use some work before it is commercially viable. While the concept is intriguing, it definitely needs to be fine tuned. The image it self looks a little fuzzy, though that could, in part, be due to the video quality. At any rate, the concepts being explored are fascinating. Once the technology catches up, I expect we will see this in use in the future.

    Researchers are continually finding new uses for the kinect system. In the video game world, they are experimenting with mood-detection as a way to draw the user into the story. Other characters in the story may act and react differently with your character based on things like you body posture and the inflection in your voice.

    The Kinect has also made its way into other field including robotics and 3D desktops. The TeleHuman project is similar in this realm, in that it can also be used to as a way to interact with visual information in a new way. As the second part of the video demonstrates, hand position and your physical distance to the object influence what you see before you.

    Overall, I am impressed with the amount of uses they are finding with the Kinect. Once these concept are finely tuned, expect to see some futuristic implementation down the road.

    [via: psfk]

  • $99 Xbox 360 / Kinect Bundle On The Way (With Contract)

    Apparently, Microsoft is about to make a giant push to get their console into more hands.

    According to The Verge, sources say that a cheap Xbox 360 / Kinect bundle is coming our way as soon as next week. The package will cost only $99 at Microsoft Stores across the country. No word on if and when the bundle could hit other retailers.

    Well, it’s not really all that cheap in the long run. In order to snag the cheap bundle, you’ll have to enter into a contract. That contract will last two years and will cost $15 a month. And yes, there will be an early termination fee. But hey, you will get a two-year warranty out of the deal.

    That $15 monthly charge will cover your Xbox LIVE Gold membership. The total cost of this new bundle will wind up being $459 by the end of the contract. If you do the math on buying all of these components without the bundle, it’s a bit cheaper. Right now, a 4GB console with Kinect is $299.99. Xbox Live Gold is $60 a year (or $45 right now with purchase of the 360+Kinect). With that route, you’re looking at $389-$419 for the whole deal.

    Of course, this new bundle and contract plan would allow gamers to get an Xbox 360 in their living room and Xbox LIVE for just $115 up front. That’s a reasonable price to most.

    But you have to think that Microsoft is planning on giving users a little more than just Xbox LIVE Gold for $180 a year. The Verge says that they plan to advertise the new bundle as a “competitor to Apple TV, Roku, and PlayStation 3.” And I’m sure you remember all that talk last week about Microsoft’s new music (and possibly video) service that’s going to replace Zune. Maybe we’ll see some content subscriptions included as a part of that $15 monthly fee?

  • Skyrim Kinect Support Now Available, DLC Info On The Way

    UPDATE: Oh look – DLC alert!

    Hey Skyrim players: have you been working on your shouts? That Kinect support that Bethesda promised in early April has officially arrived. Now, when you yell at your TV, something might actually happen.

    The Bethesda blog says that the English Kinect support is now available on your 360, and that French, Italian, German, and Spanish versions are in the final testing stage and should be coming soon.

    Here’s what you can expect to get with the Kinect update:

    In addition to Dragon Shouts, the Kinect for Xbox 360 integration offers voice commands throughout the game including Hotkey Equipping, Follower Commands, and all Menus (Items, Magic, Map, Barter, Container, Favorites, and Skills). With Voice Commands, quickly create and load saves during gameplay and access menus and inventories. Skyrim’s Kinect for Xbox 360 Support also adds new functionality including special map functions, additional hotkey options, and the ability to sort inventory items by name, weight, and value.

    We were also promised a full list of voice commands, and you can now access that here.

    While the Kinect support is fun and all, some Skyrim lovers have something else on their minds today. This tweet teases some sort of Skyrim DLC information for today. Let’s just say we’re closely watching Bethesda’s social channels this morning.

    @ElderScrolls
    The Elder Scrolls    Be on the lookout for the first DLC info tomorrow 17 hours ago via TweetDeck ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

  • Darth Vader Brings Humor To Star Wars Kinect

    Is this enough to save the face of Star Wars Kinect for the Xbox 360? While the video/trailer has been online for sometime now (January 26), this particular video is now hitting the viral stage, thanks to a post from Boing Boing. What we have is a humorous attempt to market the now-released game, and to be honest, if this kind of advertising was more prominent, as opposed to the dance-off trailers, perhaps the buzz surrounding Star Wars Kinect would be a little higher.

    A quick glance at Twitter, as well as the comments for the Darth Vader video, gives us a good indication about the game’s reception:

    @_chialike
    Kelso    “@IGN: Is a dancing Han Solo in Kinect: Star Wars really THAT bad? http://t.co/yYf9NSOp” Yes, yes it is. 36 minutes ago via Twitter for iPhone ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

    @TheNerdista
    The Nerdista    #StarWarsKinect wants you to know Boba Fett’s crotch is AWESOME. Repeatedly. http://t.co/iqYFxd6o #killingmesoftly 1 hour ago via Twitter for Mac ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

    That doesn’t sound promising.

    @Dani3lMiln3
    Daniel Milne    Kinect Star Wars, so gonna buy this for the lulz http://t.co/Qgj9hSuP 1 hour ago via iOS ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

    Of course, LucasArts will take the sale regardless if it’s for laughs or for the serious Star Wars fan. As for the YouTube comments directly associated to the lead video, they were a lot less forgiving than the Twitter verse, which actually came off as tame:

    fuck this game and give us Star wars battlefront 3

    TehClanLeader 2 months ago

    That, friends, is the most-liked comment for the video in question.

    He’s more marketing stooge than man now 🙁

    SalientBen 5 hours ago

    Sad, but true.

    Murderous….. rage……. BRIMMING!

    CorvetteZr1S 3 weeks ago

    And that, folks, is what a poorly-received Star Wars game gets you. It should be noted that, courtesy of Metacritic, the overall score for the game was 56 out of 100. Conversely, a game like Skyrim nailed down a 96 out of 100. Despite the low score, VGChartz.com reveals the game is currently the number one selling game for the Xbox platform on a global scale.

    Clearly, Star Wars is still somewhat critic (and peer) proof.

  • Kinect For Windows Gets A Gesture Recognition SDK

    It’s been said before and I’ll say it again – Kinect isn’t just for video games anymore. Ever since the release of the Kinect for Windows SDK last year and the official Kinect for Windows hardware this year, developers have gone to great lengths to create some of the most creative and awe inspiring applications we’ve seen in years. A few features have been missing but Carl Franklin has the answer to at least one of them.

    Franklin has created a gesture recognition SDK for Kinect for Windows called GesturePak. With this new software, developers will be able to easily program gesture recognition into their applications. It would be especially useful for applications that require such recognition since building it yourself would take months.

    Even if it did take you months, you could still build gesture recognition for yourself. That’s stupid though since Franklin already did the hard work for you. Here’s his explanation:

    “When Microsoft released the Kinect for Windows SDK beta last year, I tried to write an app to recognize a simple gesture. It was way too complex. The SDK spits out a stream of joint data (X,Y, and Z axis data points for each of the 20 locations on your body that the Kinect tracks) at 30 frames per second. In order to recognize gestures you have to track coordinates in space over periods of time, compensate for a margin of error, and somehow determine that the user is actually moving deliberately the way you want them to.

    My idea was to simplify this process by breaking down a gesture, say a hand wave, into poses. A gesture is a series of poses that are matched sequentially. So, I wrote a recorder (I’m an audio recording engineer so my brain just goes there…) that takes snapshots of your body and saves the data into a collection of poses. Then I wrote a matcher that watches you in real time, and determines if you’re hitting the poses. It’s a lot of logic and math, but at the end of the day all that goo is abstracted away from the programmer. If you want to recognize somebody flapping their arms, rocking their head from side to side, kicking their feet, swaying their hips, or just about anything you can think of, you’re crazy if you don’t use some kind of gesture matching toolkit like GesturePak.”

    Franklin says that Microsoft themselves are working on gesture recognition solutions for version 1.5 of the Kinect for Windows SDK. The solutions Microsoft provides isn’t real gesture recognition, Franklin says its getting close. In the meantime, his SDK can take care of the work for developers wanting to track gestures.

    Head over to the Web site to try out a free demo of the gesture recognition SDK. It allows you to “create and test as many gestures as you like, even matching multiple gestures at the same time. If you want to save those gestures, however, you’re going to need to buy the license. With the license, you also get the power to have your Windows Apps recognize your saved gestures.

    A single developer license only costs $99 with a site license going for $799. Considering that a lot of the Kinect developers who won the Kinect Accelerator were small teams, this kind of pricing structure will be most advantageous to the kind of developers making the truly unique applications with Kinect.