Kinect For PCs Early Next Year, Microsoft Eyeing Business Apps

An anonymous reader writes "Microsoft has announced that its Kinect motion-control system will be available for PCs in early 2012, and that they're planning to take it into the business world as well. 'Microsoft plans to launch a commercial program for the peripheral early next year, giving businesses the tools to develop customized applications for their companies and industries. The pilot program already includes such familiar names as Toyota, book publisher Houghton Mifflin Harcourt and design firm Razorfish. All totaled, over 200 "marquis brand" companies in 25 countries have signed up for the program... And while the majority of those companies have opted to keep their names hidden for now for competitive reasons, Microsoft is working with them to get the applications up and running, so they can debut as soon as possible. Just don't expect the Redmond-based company to do any first party apps for this program.'"

Comments

KinectPC + Win8Metro = interface clown school

[Anonymous Coward]

Ugh. Double-ugh. More useless desktop eye-candy you can't turn off. More network load for push apps we didn't want 10 years ago. More blink-on-mouseover crap in business apps. And now you have to wave your arms like Neo in the Matrix in order to alt-tab between apps... Win 8's Metro IF+ Kinect for PC....

The MSFT Clown School of Interface Design (tm) is coming like a tidal wave.

Re:KinectPC + Win8Metro = interface clown school

[ColdWetDog]

Ugh. Double-ugh. More useless desktop eye-candy you can't turn off. More network load for push apps we didn't want 10 years ago. More blink-on-mouseover crap in business apps. And now you have to wave your arms like Neo in the Matrix in order to alt-tab between apps... Win 8's Metro IF+ Kinect for PC....

The MSFT Clown School of Interface Design (tm) is coming like a tidal wave.

It might not be all bad. Imagine having a Millennium Falcon like gun turret and going Pew! Pew! Pew! at your boss when she pops up on the screen.

Re:KinectPC + Win8Metro = interface clown school

[UnknowingFool]

You mean like motion based email?. Can't wait for someone to send me an offensive email so can reply by giving them the bird. ;)

Re:KinectPC + Win8Metro = interface clown school

[Anonymous Coward]

And now you have to wave your arms like Neo in the Matrix in order to alt-tab between apps...

"For years computers had been operated by means of pressing buttons and scrolling wheels; then as the technology became more sophisticated the controls were made touch-sensitive – you merely had to brush the panels with your fingers; now all you had to do was wave your hand in the general direction of the components and hope. It saved a lot of muscular expenditure, of course, but it meant you had to sit infuriatingly still if you wanted to keep using the same program."

Re:KinectPC + Win8Metro = interface clown school

[MrBandersnatch]

Lol I love it...I assume that was an April fool? (Seriously with interaction designers and gestures....its hard to tell!)

Anyway's its still a work in process since I haven't written the full interaction for it but I've been working on a mobile gesture email interface for my os6sense project. about 6:30mins in - I know, its pathetic, just simple scrolling up and down for emails yet but if you look at the air-writing and other pinch based interactions earlier on in the video you can see that its possible to put together a full gestural input system for email.

And shameless plug for myself - looking for peeps to take part in a gesture study...sadly I removed the cut gesture since my pilot study found it too offensive! *grin*
Gesture Survey

Display Survey

Sorry I wouldn't normally tout so shamelessly but the opportunity is just too great :)

Re:KinectPC + Win8Metro = interface clown school

[Luckyo]

I think you really should watch the video in the first link. It's fairly informative on what kinds of uses MS predicts. None of them are what you are listing.

For once microsoft doesn't kill the goose

[Anonymous Coward]

I like how an entire market for advanced motion control has sprung up around what was originally a homebrew reverse engineering effort. That said, the tech inside the kinect is amazing and the ability to get it all in to a sub100 dollar mass market device is impressive.

Re:For once microsoft doesn't kill the goose

[MrBandersnatch]

the ability to get it all in to a sub100 dollar mass market device is impressive.

Indeed especially when you consider the you can expect to pay an order of magnitude more for similar devices but with slightly better performance along different axis (e.g. FoV, depth, speed). One of the best pieces of hardware have launched and I cant wait for something a little more discreet so that I can co-opt it into a wearable design *grin*

Re:Kinect + Siri + Jetpacks = The Future

[ackthpt]

About 14 years ago I had a Gyro Mouse and really loved it. Seems to me the only difference between it and Kinect is how you interpret back what the mouse is telling you. Nice mouse, particularly as I could use my thumb for clicks, which it does far better than the forefinger.

They need a new lense to make this work.

[dharma21]

The current one is not wide enough for desktop use. I don't want to have the Kinect 10 feet away from me. It's got to be 3 feet from me.

Re:Business integration

[tompaulco]

Besides, in a couple years any monitor you buy will be touch screen enabled, so alternative input methods will be a moot point.
Touch screen monitors are horribly inefficient for a workstation. They work pretty good in an environment where the computer is a secondary device to doing the job, like on a production line, or a GPS in a car, but a keyboard and mouse are an order of magnitude quicker.