Project Natal 2010 Project Natal Images

Infobox

title = Kinect for Xbox 360
bodyclass = hproduct vevent
titleclass = fn summary
class1 = organiser
above =
image =
caption = Kinect sensor device
label1 = Developer
data1 =
label2 =
data2 =
label3 = Product family
data3 = Xbox
label4 = Type
data4 =
label5 = Generation
data5 = Seventh generation era
label6 = Release date
data6 =
label7 =
data7 =
label8 = Introductory Price
data8 =
label9 = Discontinued
data9 =
label10 = Units sold
data10 =
label11 = Units shipped
data11 =
label12 = Platform
data12 = Xbox 360
label13 = Connectivity
data13 = USB 2.0 (type-A)
label14 = Resolution
data14 =
label15 = Dimensions
data15 =
label16 = Weight
data16 =
label17 = Predecessor
data17 = Xbox Live Vision
Kinect for Xbox 360''' Kinect is scheduled to launch worldwide starting with North America on November 4, 2010,

Technology

The Kinect sensor which provides full-body 3D motion capture, facial recognition, and voice recognition capabilities. The Kinect sensor's microphone array enables the Xbox 360 to conduct acoustic source localization and ambient noise suppression, allowing for things such as headset-free party chat over Xbox Live. The depth sensor consists of an infrared projector combined with a monochrome CMOS sensor, and allows the Kinect sensor to see in 3D under any ambient light conditions. The sensing range of the depth sensor is adjustable, with the Kinect software capable of automatically calibrating the sensor based on gameplay and the player's physical environment, such as the presence of chairs. Kinect is based on software technology developed internally by Microsoft and range camera technology by Israeli developer PrimeSense, which interprets 3D scene information from a continuously-projected infrared pattern. Described by Microsoft personnel as the primary innovation of Kinect, According to information supplied to retailers, the Kinect is capable of simultaneously tracking up to six people, including two active players for motion analysis with a feature extraction of 20 joints per player. Depending on the person's distance from the sensor, Kinect is capable of tracking models that can identify individual fingers. According to information supplied to retailers, the Kinect sensor outputs video at a frame rate of 30 Hz, with the RGB video stream at 32-bit color VGA resolution (640×480 pixels), and the monochrome video stream used for depth sensing at 16-bit QVGA resolution (320×240 pixels with 65,536 levels of sensitivity). The Kinect sensor has a practical ranging limit of distance. The sensor has an angular field of view of 57° horizontally and a 43° vertically, while the motorized pivot is capable of tilting the sensor as much as 27° either up or down. The microphone array features four microphone capsules, Because the Kinect sensor's motorized tilt mechanism requires more power than can be supplied via the Xbox 360's USB ports, whereas older models require a special power supply cable (included with the sensor ) which splits the connection into separate USB and power connections, with the USB connecting to the console and the power being supplied from the mains by way of an AC adapter.

History

Kinect was first announced on June 1, 2009 at E3 2009 under the code name "Project Natal". Following in Microsoft's tradition of using cities as code names, Three demos were shown to showcase Kinect when it was revealed at Microsoft's E3 2009 Media Briefing: ''Ricochet'', ''Paint Party'' and ''Milo & Kate''. It was rumored that the launch of Project Natal would be accompanied with the release of a new Xbox 360 console (as either a new retail configuration, Microsoft corporate vice president Shane Kim reaffirmed that the company believes that the life cycle of the Xbox 360 will last through 2015 (10 years). During Kinect's development, project team members experimentally adapted numerous games to Kinect-based control schemes to help evaluate usability. Among these game were ''Beautiful Katamari'' and ''Space Invaders Extreme'', which were demonstrated at the Tokyo Game Show in September 2009. Although the sensor unit was originally planned to contain a microprocessor that would perform operations such as the system's skeletal mapping, it was revealed in January 2010 that the sensor would no longer feature a dedicated processor. Instead processing would be handled by one of the processor cores of the Xbox 360's Xenon CPU. A number of observers commented that the computational load required for Kinect makes the addition of Kinect functionality to pre-existing games through software updates even less likely, with Kinect-specific concepts instead likely to be the focus for developers using the platform. On March 25, Microsoft sent out a save the date flier for an event called the "World Premiere 'Project Natal' for the Xbox 360 Experience" at E3 2010. The event took place on the evening of Sunday, June 13, 2010 at the Galen Center. Despite previous statements dismissing speculation of a new Xbox 360 to accompany the launch of new control system, Microsoft announced at E3 2010 that it was introducing a redesigned Xbox 360, complete with a Kinect-ready connector port. In addition, on July 20, 2010, Microsoft announced a Kinect bundle with a redesigned Xbox 360, to be available with the Kinect launch.

Software

Requiring at least 175 MB of available storage space, , third-party publishers confirmed by Microsoft to be working on future Kinect titles include Activision Blizzard, Bethesda Softworks, Capcom, Disney Interactive, Electronic Arts, Konami, MTV Games, Namco Bandai, SEGA, Square Enix, THQ Inc. and Ubisoft.

See also

PlayStation Move
PlayStation Eye
EyeToy
Dreameye
Wii Remote
Motion capture
Structured-light 3D scanner

References

External links

Kinect Playlist at official YouTube Xbox channel