Kinect interface to be built into smart TVs?

This article over at The Daily that I seemed to have missed last week, stated that some sort of Kinect TV is in the works.They also mention Sony as being one of the manufacturers. This seems to be about right in line with the next logical step for Kinect. As for Kinect in a Sony TV, I'll believe it when I see it.

Kinect 2 rumored for next Xbox will read lips, sense your emotion, judge you

When Kinect launched last year, its potential was already compromised. Instead of getting 640x480+depth, we got something more like 320x240+depth (at 30fps), half or less of what the hardware is even capable of. That is due to the USB 2.0 controller interface, which should be 35MB/s. I say "should" because it needs to share that bandwidth with other USB devices on board, which lowers the bandwidth to 5/16MB/s. Microsoft did release a patch that seemed to help the issue, but is very secretive about how much of that is due to data compression.

With that in mind, Kinect 2 is rumored over at Eurogamer to have a higher resolution image and IR sensor so it would naturally need a much higher bandwidth pipeline from the start. The accuracy of Kinect 2 is stated by Eurogamer's source to be "so powerful it will enable games to lip read, detect when players are angry, and determine in which direction they are facing.".

Also rumored lately, is 2 future Xbox SKUs. One of them being referred to as XboxTV, with stripped down capabilities and Kinect gaming portal (why not just reconfig a 360?) and the other being a hardcore games machine called Infinity or Loop, which would be backward compatible. Eurogamer also sites a past Wii-like controller concept also named Loop. I would imagine a reconfigured Xbox controller made to be used in single or dual-handed forms would make plenty of sense to me. This would really open up the hybrid gameplay with tandem Kinect and controller(s). The new consoles are rumored to be unveiled at E3 next summer, with some speculating a winter 2012 release and others suggesting a winter 2013 release.

Whether or not this Kinect 2 is the same as the upcoming Kinect for Windows remains to be seen, but one would assume that some sort of consolidation would keep cost down.

DisplAir combines projection, fog machine, IR sensor, magic

A Russian start-up company has created a sci-fi interface turned into a reality. Astrakhan-based DisplAir, has demonstrated that they can run a GUI image projected onto a curtain of fog, where the IR camera tracks the hand movements ala Kinect-style interface. The IR camera is capable of picking out hand movements as small as 1cm, making it more sensitive than the Xbox-bases device, even though there seems to be more lag. Hopefully the forthcoming Kinect for PC will be able to do as well or better, with its zoom feature.

I'm not sure why exactly this is any more efficient than a touch screen display, but it is indeed much cooler.

Source: Electronista

Kinect for Windows gets new hardware, ready for its close-up

Since announcing a few weeks ago that the Kinect for Windows commercial program will launch in early 2012, we’ve been asked whether there will also be new Kinect hardware especially for Windows. The answer is yes; building on the existing Kinect for Xbox 360 device, we have optimized certain hardware components and made firmware adjustments which better enable PC-centric scenarios. Coupled with the numerous upgrades and improvements our team is making to the Software Development Kit (SDK) and runtime, the new hardware delivers features and functionality that Windows developers and Microsoft customers have been asking for. 

Simple changes include shortening the USB cable to ensure reliability across a broad range of computers and the inclusion of a small dongle to improve coexistence with other USB peripherals.  Of particular interest to developers will be the new firmware which enables the depth camera to see objects as close as 50 centimeters in front of the device without losing accuracy or precision, with graceful degradation down to 40 centimeters.  “Near Mode” will enable a whole new class of “close up” applications, beyond the living room scenarios for Kinect for Xbox 360. This is one of the most requested features from the many developers and companies participating in our Kinect for Windows pilot program and folks commenting on our forums, and we’re pleased to deliver this, and more, at launch"

Click here for the rest of the story at: MSDN

Wearable camera + HMD + trainer = remote human assist

It's augmented reality or AR for the workplace. I can't find another term so I made up the term remote human assist or RHA. I'll leave the rest up to Japan's institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, who came up with this AR concept.

I'll try to make this as uncomplicated as possible. So you have 2 humans wearing a GoPro HD camera mounted on a helmet. Next you have both also wearing a HMD or Head Mounted Display showing the action through video. Basically, you have the trainer viewing the trainee's line of sight. The trainer then displays a hand movement of where the trainee is supposed to put his own hand, walking him through a task. The colored glove of the trainer is superimposed over the trainee's real-time image.

This could come in handy if say your airline pilot gets sick from eating the fish and you have to land the plane yourself... or you walk into a situation where you have only minutes to disarm a bomb and there happens to be one of those units laying there. Seriously though, I guess there are times when a trainer can't be following a trainee or multiple trainees all of the time. This appears to be designed for hostile environments where um, the trainee's life is more important? OK, I think you get the picture.

Video after the break: