The eagerly awaited SDk for developing applications using the Kinect game controller with Windows PC applications is now (finally) available.
The Kinect for Windows SDK is a programming toolkit for application developers.
It allows access to the Microsoft Kinect device connected to computers running Windows 7.
Previously, access was possible using a variety of toolkits developed by a number of different sources. Now Microsoft Research are providing an offical toolkit to enable developers to build applications running on Windows 7 that have full access to the capabilites of the Kinect.
The SDK Beta is intended for an audience of experienced developers who want to experiment with Kinect sensors as input and imaging devices on Windows-based PCs. Many early-adopters are eager to use Kinect sensors to explore possibilities for natural user interfaces (NUI). The SDK is not intended for use in consumer environments and is not licensed for production use. Use of this SDK is expected to be in a laboratory or test-bench setting or in a classroom
A commercial version is expected to be released at a later date.
Kinect drivers for Windows 7 provide support for
- The Kinect sensor’s microphone array as a kernel-mode audio device that you can access through the standard audio APIs in Windows.
- Streaming image and depth data.
- Device enumeration functions that enable an application to use more than one Kinect sensor that is connected to the computer.
The SDK also provides a Natural User Interface (NUI) API which is a set of APIs that retrieves data from the image sensors and controls the Kinect devices.
Full details and download(s) available from
http://research.microsoft.com/en-us/um/redmond/projects/kinectsdk
Happy Programming …
The Image Composite Editor from Microsoft Research is a panoramic image stitcher program.
It is used to join a set of overlapping images together from a set of photos of a scene taken from a single camera location. The program uses advanced algorithms to create a seamless, high resolution image which can be saved in a number of different formats.
Simply load a set of images into the application
You don’t need to load them in any particular order, the program will sort out how they should be connected and stitch them together giving very impressive results.
The program is available as a free download.
Details are available at
http://research.microsoft.com/en-us/um/redmond/groups/ivm/ICE/
and the download from
http://research.microsoft.com/en-us/downloads/730cd6bb-6450-4e66-8101-a94e71cb0779/default.aspx
RearType is a project from Microsoft and others, that explores a text entry system for mobile devices using normal keyboard keys that are placed on the back of the device. This approach helps to resolve the problem where a users fingers and hands occlude the touch point(s).
http://research.microsoft.com/apps/pubs/default.aspx?id=135609
Earlier work in this area includes Lucid Touch, by Patrick Baudisch http://www.kf12.com/blogs/techno/2008/01/lucid-touch/, and the Grippity Keyboard http://www.kf12.com/blogs/techno/2009/01/grippity-keyboard/ and http://www.grippity.com/
In RearType, a standard keyboard layout is split and rotated so that hands gripping the device have the usual keys under the fingers. This allows for 10-finger, tactile, touch-typing which may be better and quicker than using an on-screen keyboard for touch devices.
The paper “RearType: Text Entry Using Keys on the Back of a Device” will be presented at Mobile HCI 2010 ( http://mobilehci2010.di.fc.ul.pt/ )
James Scott and Shahram Izadi from Microsoft Research
Leila Sadat Rezai RWTH Aachen, Germany
Dominika Ruszkowski, Xiaojun Bi and Ravin Balakrishnan from the Dept. of Computer Science,
University of Toronto, Canada
An annual showcase “Research in Action” describes Research work from the Department of Computer Science at the University of Toronto. This project was described during the last event held in November 2009.
http://web.cs.toronto.edu/research/ria.htm
Recently I noted an interesting video at Channel 9: Inside MultiTouch: Team Demo, Lab Tour which shows an interview with members of the MultiTouch Research team at Microsoft Research in Cambridge UK.
Microsoft is exploring the use of IR technology over the traditional approach of using capacitive touch panels. The iPhone, for example, uses a capacitive touch panel built into the display.
Find out more about the technology used in the iPhone at
http://www.apple.com/iphone/features/index.html#technology
and
http://www.apple.com/iphone/features/index.html#touch
The Microsoft Surface Computing technology uses a rear projection / sensing system that enables a high sensing resolution but is bulky and expensive. The Microsoft MultiTouch approach, however, uses a number of small infrared transceivers mounted on the rear of LCD panels to enable a more compact solution but at a lower resolution (but still sufficient for detecting multi finger touch).
A prototype, developed at MSR Cambridge consists of an array of IR emitters and IR detectors arranged on a tile which is pressed against the back of the LCD display. IR light passes thru the LCD panel and is reflected back to the IR receivers after bouncing off objects such as fingers. The tile consists of an array of 5×7 emitters and receivers to provide effectively a 35 pixel camera element over an area covered by the size of the tile.
Multiple tiles can be combined to cover the whole screen.
The video shows how off-the-shelf LCD displays can be modified to provide the necessary proof of concept of this approach.
Watch the video (approximate 30 minutes) at
http://channel9.msdn.com/ShowPost.aspx?PostID=350838
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