Zelaron Gaming Forum - Xbox Kinect Hacked to work on PCs

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Xbox Kinect Hacked to work on PCs

Kinect hacked to work on computers
http://edition.cnn.com/2010/TECH/inn...2/kinect.hack/

http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2010/TE...ack/t1larg.gif

Quote:

Microsoft's no-remote gaming system, called Kinect, has been hacked so it can be used with personal computers or potentially other gaming systems.

The Redmond, Washington, company designed the motion-sensing device to be used only with its Xbox 360 gaming console. Kinect uses cameras to capture the movements of players' bodies, eliminating the need for the remote controls that have dominated video gaming for decades.

To throw a punch in a boxing game, for example, a player would simply punch the air; Kinect's cameras record the movements and translate them into the digital game.

The hack leaves open the possibility that Microsoft's motion-sensing technology could be used to control computer interfaces, not just games. The technology could have applications for the classroom, in art or in any field where motion-controlled computing would be compelling.

In effect, Kinect could be used to change the way people interact with technology -- creating an alternative to the keyboard-and-mouse set-up that's so common today.

"It's actually surprisingly easy to interface with this device," a hacker says in a YouTube video that shows Kinect working with a Linux operating system. "I think it will be pretty damn good for a lot of projects -- especially robotics."

Microsoft, not surprisingly, isn't happy about the hack.

"Microsoft does not condone the modification of its products," a company spokesperson told the tech site CNET, adding: "Microsoft will continue to make advances in these types of safeguards and work closely with law enforcement and product safety groups to keep Kinect tamper-resistant."

The company did not immediately respond to a call from CNN.

The hack resulted from an "Open Kinect" challenge started by Adafruit Industries, a New York company that makes do-it-yourself electronics kits. The company gave the winner -- a hacker identified in a blog post as Hector -- a $3,000 prize, which he plans to put toward further hacks.

Adafruit says on its blog that opening Kinect is good for innovation.

"We know this subsidized / commodity hardware can now be used for robotics, art, science, education and more. For $150 it's loaded with tons of great sensors and cameras -- now it's unlocked for creativity," the blog says.

The Kinect system, which is an add-on for the Xbox 360, is essentially a motion-capturing camera, a voice sensor and software that makes sense of all this information. Users place that gizmo on top of their TVs and hook it up to the Xbox to enable motion-controlled gaming.

The system went on sale on November 4 and retails for $149 by itself.

http://www.crunchgear.com/2010/11/10...s-now-working/

from readme:

Quote:

TODO:
9 – TONS of cleanup. I mean LOTS.
10 – Proper buildsystem (CMake probably)
11 – Determine exactly what the inits do
12 – Bayer to RGB conversion that doesn’t suck
13 – Integrate support for the servo and accelerometer (which have already been
14 reverse engineered)
15
16 BIG TODO: audio. The audio chip (the Marvell) requires firmware and more init
17 and does a TON of stuff including the crypto authentication to prove that it is
18 an original Kinect and not a clone. Who knows what this thing does to the
19 incoming audio. This should be interesting to look at.

You mean you've not got the image manipulation video? Shame on you!

http://www.engadget.com/2010/11/11/h...uch-interface/

ah! I hadn't seen that yet. I've been some-what busy and haven't had a chance to browse. This is actually pretty cool news. I had kinda figured that this was going to happen, but I didn't think that this fast it would be cracked even given that $3000 award for whomever could crack it first. It's funny how Microsoft isn't too happy about this situation, though. I'm pretty sure once you purchase a Kinect, you are at liberty to do whatever you want with your newly owned hardware.

Doesn't seem much different from people "jailbreaking" their iPhones to work with other providers and have more customizability. Pretty neat.

And some more.

This fella has taken the output of the depth processing part of the Kinect and used it to re-construct the 3D environment:

http://www.engadget.com/2010/11/14/h...-capture-tool/

And he's released the source code!

http://idav.ucdavis.edu/~okreylos/Re...ect/index.html

What a find. That's definitely interesting.

I acutally checked out a couple of his videos. He's talking about using a mirror in the background to project a fully 360 degree 3D image, which is a cool thought. And like you said, that software he's using to make the kinect work with computer is up and available.. FOR FREE.

I love the interest being generated with this little project, thanks Microsoft!

It's kinda weird - the technology of the hardware of this system has existed for some time. Microsoft decided to implement the technology into gaming systems - a novel idea I suppose. They write the code for the Xbox 360 - and now suddenly everyone is deciding to write their own code? It's funny when the motivating factor for individuals to try to advance technology is the fact that they're jealous Xbox 360 owners have it but they can't have it on their PC.

:Edit: Perhaps jealous isn't the best choice word, but I think it gets the idea across.

Because I don't technically have to produce anything that is completely original, and because I've been wanting to fiddle with the Kinect as a PnP device since it came out, my Master's dissertation is a project using the MS Kinect as an input device for a gesture-based interface for a Windows machine. :D

Now I can't really post my work online until I've finished it completely (the plagiarism systems would pick up my posts and flag my final report as plagiarised, despite the fact that everything is written by the same person), but if people are interested in the project, I'll happily post explanations of what I'm doing, as well as brief descriptions of the various algorithms I've researched for hand detection, hand tracking, and gesture recognition, and how they work.

I may even get the chance to post videos of my work in action.

That..... would be so cool. I'd love to understand how that works.

Also, couldn't you just prove that you're Lenny on Zelaron and say you posted it?