The technology
The big selling point that Kinect has over Wii and Move is that the sensor recognises your whole body. So, you’re not just waving your arms around, but the scope is much larger and you're now bending down, or jumping and kicking your legs out to the side among many other physical activities. In fact, apart from recognising the movement of individual fingers or toes, it seems that Kinect can pick up every movement that your body makes from the swaying of your hips to the nod of your head. This is an expensive piece of technology to make and it's why Kinect will knock you back around £129.99, substantially more than Sony’s rival peripheral PlayStation Move. To understand what you’re getting for your money and determine whether it's worth a punt, let’s first look at the technology.The Technology
In the words of Microsoft, Kinect features an "RGB camera, depth sensor and multi-array microphone running proprietary software, which provides full-body 3D motion capture, facial recognition and voice recognition capabilities." The important things to pick out of the spec sheet below is Kinect's ability to track your whole body movement within your play space, tracking 3D movements and then translating it accurately on screen. Kinect also includes a microphone, which can be used for dashboard navigation and within some of the games. The tilt motion-sensor also allows the camera to move up and down to search for you in the play space prior to each game.
Sensor
Colour and depth-sensing lenses
Voice microphone array
Tilt motor for sensor adjustment
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 Xbox LIVE Avatars
Audio System
Xbox LIVE party chat and in-game voice chat (requires Xbox LIVE Gold Membership)
Echo cancellation system enhances voice input
Speech recognition in multiple languages
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