Play.com has a pre-order page online for Microsoft's Kinect peripheral. No, there's no price. But there is a detailed specifications sheet for it, showing us the true capability of the motion-sensing device. Don't let us stop you, take a gander;
Colour and depth-sensing lenses
Voice microphone array
Tilt motor for sensor adjustment
Fully compatible with existing Xbox 360 consoles
Field of View
Horizontal field of view: 57 degrees
Vertical field of view: 43 degrees
Physical tilt range: ± 27 degrees
Depth sensor range: 1.2m - 3.5m
Data Streams
320x240 16-bit depth @ 30 frames/sec
640x480 32-bit colour@ 30 frames/sec
16-bit audio @ 16 kHz
Skeletal Tracking System
Tracks up to 6 people, including 2 active players
Tracks 20 joints per active player
Ability to map active players to LIVE Avatars
Audio System
LIVE party chat and in-game voice chat (requires Xbox LIVE Gold Membership)
Echo cancellation system enhances voice input
Speech recognition in multiple
Apparently the Kinect comes with the sensor, power supply, manual, a game and a Wi-Fi Extension Cable in the box. Sorry, what? A "Wi-Fi Extension Cable"? What exactly is one of those? Isn't the whole point of Wi-Fi to... you know... not use cables? Perhaps there really is some magic going into the Kinect after all.
Colour and depth-sensing lenses
Voice microphone array
Tilt motor for sensor adjustment
Fully compatible with existing Xbox 360 consoles
Field of View
Horizontal field of view: 57 degrees
Vertical field of view: 43 degrees
Physical tilt range: ± 27 degrees
Depth sensor range: 1.2m - 3.5m
Data Streams
320x240 16-bit depth @ 30 frames/sec
640x480 32-bit colour@ 30 frames/sec
16-bit audio @ 16 kHz
Skeletal Tracking System
Tracks up to 6 people, including 2 active players
Tracks 20 joints per active player
Ability to map active players to LIVE Avatars
Audio System
LIVE party chat and in-game voice chat (requires Xbox LIVE Gold Membership)
Echo cancellation system enhances voice input
Speech recognition in multiple
Apparently the Kinect comes with the sensor, power supply, manual, a game and a Wi-Fi Extension Cable in the box. Sorry, what? A "Wi-Fi Extension Cable"? What exactly is one of those? Isn't the whole point of Wi-Fi to... you know... not use cables? Perhaps there really is some magic going into the Kinect after all.
Companies:
Microsoft
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Comments
tyrion 30 Jun 2010 13:38
1/1
I'm a little worried by those field of view and range figures.
I've just done a little "back of a calculator" maths and I've come up with the following based on an average UK adult male height of 1.753m which I found in the 2007 NHS health survey.
The closest you're going to be able to stand to the sensor is about 2.4m and to do that, you've going to have to have the sensor 0.87m off the floor. That's just past the middle of the usable range of the depth sensor at 2.35m. At 2.4m from Kinect, you'll have up to 2.13m of horizontal space, so there should be no issues with two "active" players standing next to each other.
The lowest you can have the sensor is 0.47m off the floor, where your average UK male will be at the full 3.5m extent of the depth sensor. At that range, you'll have 3.12m of horizontal space.
Now, I'm taller than that average height, so my playing space is closer to the 3.5m end of the range and my Kinect will have to be higher than that lowest figure.
I'm going to have to measure up my lounge to see how high I can put the Kinect camera and if I have the room between my TV and couch to stand in so that I can be fully seen by it.
I've just done a little "back of a calculator" maths and I've come up with the following based on an average UK adult male height of 1.753m which I found in the 2007 NHS health survey.
The closest you're going to be able to stand to the sensor is about 2.4m and to do that, you've going to have to have the sensor 0.87m off the floor. That's just past the middle of the usable range of the depth sensor at 2.35m. At 2.4m from Kinect, you'll have up to 2.13m of horizontal space, so there should be no issues with two "active" players standing next to each other.
The lowest you can have the sensor is 0.47m off the floor, where your average UK male will be at the full 3.5m extent of the depth sensor. At that range, you'll have 3.12m of horizontal space.
Now, I'm taller than that average height, so my playing space is closer to the 3.5m end of the range and my Kinect will have to be higher than that lowest figure.
I'm going to have to measure up my lounge to see how high I can put the Kinect camera and if I have the room between my TV and couch to stand in so that I can be fully seen by it.