Gesture Control

Back at the end of January, I told you about Making Things See: 3D Vision With Kinect, Processing, Arduino, and MakerBot, a new book published by O'Reilly. My review copy arrived about a week ago, but I admittedly haven't found sufficient spare cycles to crack it open yet, far from give it a proper perusal

As I previously reported in early January, Microsoft's Kinect for Windows hardware began showing up in various retail channels on February 1, right on schedule. A month back, when I first checked Amazon's website, it was showing a several-week lead time, but the product is now reportedly in stock and ready for immediate shipment. And

One of the to-date reliable observations which guides my professional life is that a technology has "made it" when O'Reilly Media decides to cover it. Not that any of us in the embedded vision industry had any doubts until now, mind you, but it's time to extend congratulations to the concept of hacking the Microsoft

Two days from now, the PC-tailored and "close view"-supportive variant of Microsoft's Kinect will reportedly be available for sale. I've suspected ever since hearing the initial news of Microsoft's PC aspirations that the company's plans included not only a USB-tethered peripheral for existing systems but also a bezel-embedded Kinect version licensed to computer OEMs for

Two weeks ago, when I first wrote about Microsoft's upcoming Kinect for Windows, I wondered how substantially it'd differ from the Xbox 360-intended model, and whether the changes would reflect evolution in software, hardware or both. Shortly-thereafter coverage in Wired indicated: The Kinect for Windows unit also offers a modified USB connector and better protection

The persistent rumors of an impending Apple-branded television (likely integrating, among other things, the functionality of today's standalone Apple TV STB) seemingly has other consumer electronics manufacturers motivated to get out in front of the folks at One Infinite Loop, judging from the news coming out of Las Vegas. Although Logitech's Google TV experiment wasn't

Steve Ballmer's CES-officially-opening keynote is under way as I type this, but thanks to the liveblogs of folks such as Engadget and The Verge (not to mention the Microsoft-served live video stream), I'm able to keep up even though I'm not in attendance in Las Vegas. One tidbit that I just saw is particularly relevant

After having recently shown us some visionary beyond-game-console applications for the Kinect gesture interface peripheral, Microsoft appears to be ready to "put its money where its mouth is." As first (at least in my RSS feed suite) reported by VentureBeat, the company has partnered with an investment firm called TechStars (which, per its website, "provides

Last Thursday, I shared a concept video from Microsoft that showcased a number of under-development and beyond-gaming implementations of the company's Kinect stereo vision peripheral. Today, I'll pass along a bigger-picture visionary clip from Microsoft, which you can find above. Unlike John Gruber, I don't particularly think that vision videos are a waste of corporate

In a "treat, not trick" move appropriate for the day (Halloween) in which it occurred, Microsoft officially announced on October 31 that (as had already been suspected) it is planning to release a commercial version of the Kinect SDK early next year. As I mentioned in earlier coverage, the current "beta" tag translates into a

When it rains, it pours. That's the thought I keep having of late, as announcement after announcement validates the burgeoning trend of using cameraphones' image sensors for gesture interface purposes. One week ago, for example, I mentioned the Windows Phone-based version of Kinectimals. Later that same day, I pointed out some patents (both applied for

One notable optics omission from Nokia's first two Windows Phone O/S-based handsets, a writeup on which I just published, is that they don't include the front-facing cameras which Windows Phone v7.5 supports for the first time, and which other OEMs are including in their new "Mango"-based handsets. The omission is especially surprising given that Nokia's

Two weeks back, I discussed how Microsoft was "maturing" the Xbox 360 Kinect experience by integrating support for the peripheral in an increasing number of new games, including adult-tailored titles such as Forza Motorsport 4. More recently, Microsoft took the broadening aspiration in the other direction, partnering with three other companies to create content targeting