Kinect for Xbox

Kinect is a motion sensing device from Microsoft. This devise is used by Xbox 360 and PC users on the Windows platforms (“Kinect for Xbox One | Xbox.com,” 2015). Kinect is an interactive devise which uses a sensor technology that takes input from the user’s gestures and transforms it to electronic signals that commands the game controls without the need for a traditional hand held remote control. Microsoft has been developing many games to go with the Kinect. The first Kinect was introduced in 2010. At present the second generation devices called Kinect Version 2 are present in the market. It has been installed with a new sensor technology and it was made available to the general public in 2014.

The main idea behind the introduction of that Kinect was to get more people to use the Xbox. Microsoft wanted to get a further share of the gaming market all over the world. The basic applications at that time were with some basic games like boxing and exercising. With time the Kinect evolved technologically and at the moment it supports a variety of applications. In a bid to attract more programmers to develop applications that could work with Kinect, Microsoft introduced its first Software Development Kit (SDK). C++, C Sharp, and VB.NET programmers were now able to develop applications for the Xbox that were responsive to Kinect. Programmers can access a full guide over the Microsoft MSDN website (“Kinect for Windows Programming Guide,” 2015) for help in downloading the SDK and get acquainted with the different features of the API or Application Program Interface. The guide provides information about the architecture, sensors, user interfaces, face tracking, background removal, and web application programming modules that need to be understood before actually starting to write programs that will work on Xbox with the Kinect device.

Kinect has developed to have many features that are good enough to attract many users. Microsoft claim that “with Kinect the whole body is in control” (“Kinect Games: Games for Xbox Kinect – Microsoft,” 2015). What I have observed from my personal experience that this claim is perfectly spot on. The games that can be played with Kinect gets your whole body moving providing you a feeling of actually becoming a part of the game as one of the character. The device uses its sensors to detect voices and gestures from the users present in front of it. At the moment Microsoft has also added another feature to the Kinect that is it has got a facial recognition feature imbedded in it. The sensor range is adjustable and the internal software has the ability to automatically collaborate the gameplay with what the actual position of the player is around Kinect. It can be used to chat with family and friends over the skype.

Kinect supports a variety of types of applications. It supports fantasy, racing games for children and adults, dancing applications, sports applications and much more. These games are graded from E meaning everyone can play it to A which means that these games are adult only and children should not be allowed to play these games.