Kinect for Xbox 360
© 2010 Microsoft Corporation
Great for parties, groups and libraries, the Kinect Sensor makes it easy to jump in and participate in a video game experience. All you have to do to play is to get up and move. Note the learning to control Kinect means memorizing some basic moves. So what is Kinect, and why should you care? As you know, Nintendo shook the gaming world back 2006, with it's motion-sensing Wii Remote. Microsoft has up the ante by doing away with the controller altogether. Kinect (with hooks to the word "Kinesthetic") is a fat sensor that contains a camera and microphone that you plug into your Microsoft Xbox 360 game console. The camera does a lot more than take pictures. It is a sensitive, intelligent, motion capture system that continually scans the room, and can sniff out people, faces and detailed motions. You can drive a car by pretending to hold an invisible steering wheel, or swat at a soccer ball by moving your hand in thin air. Facial recognition is provided by a camera that works in concert with the motion sensor, allowing you to assign players automatically, say, for a trivia game. Clearly, the combination of face and voice recognition working in concert with a connected console running services like Twitter and Facebook could be a potent mix for "the rest of us." The Xbox Elite Kinect package is sold for $300, and it includes a much smaller, cooler, better designed Xbox game console. The Kinect sensor is sold alone for $150.
$150300, Xbox 360
Teaches: motion based gaming