Background of Microsoft Kinect:
When you talk about innovative products that have revolutionized the market, then you cannot rule out Microsoft Kinect for Xbox from this list. This product allows you to play video games without using any controller or remote. Kinect is a motion sensing device that was developed by Microsoft for the Xbox 360 video games. (Gustavo Saposnik et al , 2010) Techniques such as facial recognition and voice recognition are used to identify users. It also does a skeletal mapping of the user through the sensors and video camera that are placed on the machine.
It was launched for the first time in North America on 4 November 2010 and after that it was launched in Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore and Japan on the following dates of the same month. However, the sensing technology that empowers Kinect was first developed in 2005 by Zeev Zalesky, Alexander Shpunt, Aviad Maizels and Javier Garcia. (Yao-Jen Chang, Shu-Fang Chen, and Jun-Da Huang., 2011) It was first introduced in 2009 under the name of ‘Project Natal’. At Microsoft’s E3 2009 media briefing, three demos of Project Natal were showcased. There were rumours that the launch of this product would be done with the launch of a new Xbox 360 console. However, Microsoft denied all such rumours saying that it would be compatible with existing consoles. (Anat Mirelman, Benjamin L Patritti, Paolo Bonato, and Judith E Deutsch, 2010)
This was followed by a spate of developments of Kinect to experiment and adapt games to the Kinect based control model. One of the first games to be adapted to this new technique was Beautiful Katamari and Space Invaders extreme. And after this extensive series of experiments the product was officially launched in the market in 2010. Kinect allows the user to operate the Xbox 360 console through voice commands and hand gestures.
The developers of Kinect have said that in terms of development of technology, the world is still at the beginning. While touch technology has become very advanced, the gesture, voice and video recognition technology, which are called Natural User Interface, will soon take over touch. This is the vision that inspired the development of a gaming product such as Microft Kinect.
Microsoft chairman, Bill Gates, has cherished this vision too for a long time. He says that Kinect is the first step towards developing a technology that is absolutely controller free and also is accessible to everyone. It is backed by the goal for a voice and gesture controlled experience for gamers and very soon for Windows users too. (Belinda Lange, Chien-yen Chang, Evan Suma, Bradley Newman, Al-bert Skip Rizzo, and Mark Bolas, 2011) The goal behind developing Kinect was to give gamers a device with which they could experience gaming without any console and feel like they were part of the game. Executives have also said that by means of Kinect, gamers will be able to get off the couch and play the actual game. Cameras on machines and consoles will be able to recognize when a user is there, who the user is and what gestures they are making. The technology for this needs to be perfected, and this is the direction in which progress is being made with Microsoft Kinect.
Bibliography:
National Spinal Cord Injury Statistical Center. Spinalcord injury facts and figures at a glance. Birmingham, Alabama, February 2011.
Gustavo Saposnik et al. Effectiveness of virtual reality using Wii gaming technology in stroke rehabilitation: a pilot randomized clinical trial and proof of principle. Stroke, 41(7):1477–1484, 2010.
Anat Mirelman, Benjamin L Patritti, Paolo Bonato, and Judith E Deutsch. Effects of virtual reality training on gait biomechanics of individuals post-stroke. Gait & Posture
, 31(4):433–437, 2010.
Yao-Jen Chang, Shu-Fang Chen, and Jun-Da Huang. A kinect-based system for physical rehabilitation: A pilot study for young adults with motor disabilities. Research in Developmental Disabilities, 32(6):2566–2570, 2011.
Belinda Lange, Chien-yen Chang, Evan Suma, Bradley Newman, Al-bert Skip Rizzo, and Mark Bolas. Development and evaluation of low cost game-based balance rehabilitation tool using the microsoft kinect sensor. In International Conference of the Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society, pages 1831–1834, Boston, Massachusetts, August 2011
