Microsoft Kinect gets a place at work with new software

So who says Microsoft's Kinect game accessory is all play and no work? New software is coming out that can give Microsoft's popular motion-sensing device a place in the business boardroom. The "Win&I" software from Evoluce allows a user to control a PC running Microsoft's Windows 7 through simple gestures up to four meters from the screen. Evoluce said its software, which costs 19.90 euro (P1,238), can replace the computer mouse. "The user points the palm of the hand toward the screen and moves the cursor by moving the hand. Users can move and walk around during the gesture control session without losing contact. Even other people in the room will not be able to interfere unless the user in control lets them take over," it said. The company said that the Win&I Home Edition allows gesture control for the browser and several other applications. Kinect for businesses However, a more powerful Business Edition allows gesture control for Microsoft Office and allows one to present with PowerPoint, with special features like laser pointer mode. "The interactive software will be used not only at home but also in environments like business and point of sale. Many applications created for WIN&I will be released by software partners in the near future," Evoluce said. Another software company, So Touch, released the "So Touch Air Presenter Plus" that allows one to create "mind-boggling presentations that you can control moving your hands in the air." The software likewise uses Kinect's depth sensor to let a user manipulate presentation content with natural multi-touch gestures. Early student hacks Earlier, a group of students from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) hacked the Kinect to "enhance" distance-based Internet communication. "The proliferation of broadband and high-speed Internet access has, in general, democratized the ability to commonly engage in videoconference. However, current video systems do not meet their full potential, as they are restricted to a simple display of unintelligent 2D pixels. We present a system for enhancing distance-based communication by augmenting the traditional video conferencing system with additional attributes beyond two-dimensional video," Lining Yao, Anthony DeVincenzi, Ramesh Raskar, and Hiroshi Ishii said in their paper. "With Kinect camera and sound sensors, We explore how expanding a system's understanding of spatially calibrated depth and audio alongside a live video stream can generate semantically rich three-dimensional pixels containing information regarding their material properties and location," they added. Using a Kinect camera and sound sensors, the students indicated at least four features that can enhance the videoconference: Talking to Focus; Freezing Former Frames; Privacy Zone; and Spacial Augmenting Reality. Such a setup includes two networked locations, each with a video screen for viewing the opposite space; a standard RGB digital web camera enhanced by a depth-sensing 3D camera like the Kinect; and calibrated microphones. — TJD, GMA News