XBOX 360 Kinect: Not just for games, say reviews

By Richi Jennings. November 26, 2010.

Kinect, Microsoft's XBOX 360 motion-detecting peripheral, isn't just for games, it appears. MIT post-grad students have built a Kinect hack that can control web browsing and other desktop tasks. In IT Blogwatch, bloggers review the reviews.

Your humble blogwatcher curated these bloggy bits for your entertainment. Not to mention Thanksgiving in North Korea...
(MSFT)

Thomas Ricker waves his hands:

DepthJS is a system ... cooked up by some kids at the MIT Media Lab Fluid Interfaces Group [that] attempts to redefine the ... interactive experience. ... [It] makes Javascript talk to Microsoft's Kinect in order to navigate web pages, among other things.
...
It's not that making wild, arm-waving gestures is the best way to navigate a web site, it's just a demonstration that you can.

Marshall Kirkpatrick adds:

Hackers at the famous MIT Media Lab have built an open-source Chrome browser extension that uses the Microsoft gesture-based controller Kinect to navigate. ... The group says the end result is like the movie Minority Report and that seems like a fair comparison.
...
The software is on GitHub and open for collaboration. ... It looks pretty good. Some of the gestures appear more dramatic than I would want to use to navigate the Web with. ... [It] evokes a vision of the future in which Kinect-like devices are used to control all kinds of Web-connected devices.

MIT's Aaron Zinman clarifies and classifies:

DepthJS is about more than just using gestures to navigate the web. It is a way for any webpage to talk to the Kinect using Javascript.

Michael Santo uses The Force:

The Fluid Interfaces Group is devoted to move UI design past the typical keyboard-and-mouse interface we now have. ... The fact that you can now wave at the screen like Obi-Wan Kenobi ... at some dim-witted Storm Troopers isn't the point, at least not entirely.

Edward Moyer dreams a dream:

Viewing the group's DepthJS video demonstration, it's not hard to imagine myriad applications and various benefits. ... It could be a godsend for Google TV couch potatoes. ... It could perhaps help mitigate carpal tunnel syndrome (though it might simply replace that affliction with some other condition--browser's elbow?)

 
And Andrew Lyle is nothing but cooperative:

The amazing thing about being able to control your PC using 'the force' within you, is that you can do it with a friend. ... Two users can take control of images as the same time, allowing you to collaborate ... on projects and tasks.

 
Meanwhile, Paul Lamkin sets it in context:

Whilst we've seen some pretty cool ... Kinect hacks ... shenanigans, with both digital puppetry and Star Wars action included, we've yet to see anything as useful as this Minority Style manipulation.
...
It seems to work pretty fluidly and, with the open source community all going Kinect-hack crazy, and Microsoft seemingly not giving a damn, we're hoping for some seriously innovative hacks in the near future.

 
And Finally...
Thanksgiving in North Korea
 
 
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Richi Jennings is an independent analyst/consultant, specializing in blogging, email, and security. A cross-functional IT geek since 1985, you can follow him as @richi on Twitter, pretend to be richij's friend on Facebook, or just use good old email: itbw@richij.com.

You can also read Richi's full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations.