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.
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.
Quote:
!King_Amazon!: I talked to him while he was getting raped
[quote][16:04] jamer123: GRRR firefox just like quit on me now on internet exploder[quote]
...
[quote=!King_Amazon!]notices he's 3 inches shorter than her son and he's circumcised [quote]
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