Kinect

Combining Nike’s expertise in athletics and training with the motion control capabilities of the Xbox Kinect, this upcoming release aims to take things up a notch from the typical fitness game.

Using a depth camera mounted on a shoe, Giles Bailly offers new perspectives on gesture-controlled applications and wearable technology. Minority Report style interfaces, here we come.

Assembly produced this live performance which combines music, dance, computers and animation, controlled through a Microsoft Kinect. And yes, the audio is at least partially controlled by the dancer.

Combining HDTVs, a Mac Pro, and a Kinect sensor, Winscape creates virtual landscapes and scenes in windowless rooms, and can even automatically adjust perspective based on the viewer’s position.

Daniel Franke and Cedric Kiefer created this digital sculpture by capturing the movements and sounds of a dancer using three Kinects, then rendering them into abstract volumetric 3D forms.

Whether you think it looks awesome or awesomely bad, we still want to play Kinect Star Wars – if only to stomp around as a Rancor so we can crush Jake Lloyd and Jar Jar in Mos Eisley.

It can’t be good that this teaser tells us nothing of what to expect from the game, but it still had us laughing at its wannabe Obi-Wan dude. We really just want that limited-edition Xbox 360 anyhow.

Microsoft acknowledges the innovative and eye-opening Kinect hacks and mods, applications that surprised even the gadget’s creators. Now if they can only make more decent Kinect games.

Corey Thomas is working on a Kinect-based voice-assisted control interface for PCs. So far it can open programs and websites, play media and shut itself down. And it speaks with GLaDOS’ voice.

(NSFW: Language) It was only a matter of time before Zero Punctuation’s snarky game reviewer would get his hands on a Microsoft Kinect. Take one guess: Do you think he actually enjoys it?

A commercial for Sega’s Kinect survival horror game Rise of Nightmares made by video game comedy duo Mega64. Wait, so does this mean the game isn’t available in our dimension? Also: SWAG.

The Kinect is filled with potential. It’s been used to control other gadgets and even help the disabled. And then there’s this profoundly depressing excuse for a video game. Hilarious, but still depressing.

A Kinect, a laptop, an LED projector and a program called FaceTracker were used to project the visuals on the face of BELL vocalist Olga Bell in real time in this video for their single Chase No Face.

We like where SEGA is going with Rise of Nightmares, a creepy zombie melee game that takes full advantage of the Xbox 360 Kinect. Think House of the Dead with gesture control.

The upcoming Ghost Recon Future Soldier features a Minority Report inspired customization mode that relies on Xbox 360 Kinect gesture controls for provisioning and range testing of weapons.

The E3 teaser doesn’t show too much, but if the concept video is any indication, we’ll be getting a good workout beating down Romans in Crytek’s upcoming Kinect fighter, Ryse.

The latest hack for Microsoft’s popular motion controller turns the Kinect into the world’s first self-aware gaming system. Perfect for the week that Skynet supposedly kicked off Judgment Day.

Members of the MIT Media Lab used Microsoft’s Kinect to come up with interactive teleconferencing. Features include a talk time timer, auto focus on speaker and use of augmented reality objects.

The Kinect continues to be a hacker’s delight. YouTube user demize2010 programmed the device to play Street Fighter IV, complete with hadouken and shoryouken moves. Try it for yourself.