Kinect

The Microsoft® XBOX 360 Kinect is a motion controller developped by PrimeSense. It projects a pattern with infrared light and calculates a depth image using a camera. It also has a color camera and four microphones. The Y axis of the sensor is remote controllable with an in-build motor. The color of the LED is settable by software as well.

About

• official site Kinect Windows SDK
• wikipedia:Kinect
• www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech
• next generation Kinect

Blogs and portals

• http://www.kinecthacks.com
• http://kinect.dashhacks.com
• http://www.creativeapplications.net/kinect

Software

Applications

• CocoaKinect App Freenect by Robert Pointon
• Synapse generates sceleton data and provides it as OSC
• ofxFaceTracker provides face metrics (orientation, eye and mouth open/closed) over OSC
• codelaboratories.com/kb/nui
• TUIO Kinect lets you define a depth range where multiple blobs can be detected. No actual depth information can be extracted.
• ReconstructMe turns your Kinect into a 3D-Scanner
• KinectA is a free application by Bauhaus-Universität Alumna Michaela Honauer for motion tracking via the KinectSensor - including hand, skeleton and object tracking. Communication to other hard- and software via OSC.
• NI-Mate
• RGBDToolkit Workflow for Kinect + DSLR Filmmaking
• faceshift markerless facial motion capture in the future also:
• Sensecast lite Application/Framework for gesture recognition

SDKs, Frameworks and Libraries

Depth image

• openkinect.org Drivers, Installation
• pix_freenect for Pd (incl. binaries work without any compiling)
• fux_kinect Object for Pd
• ofxKinect openFramworks Kinect integration
• vvvv kinect integration

Skeleton data

• OpenNI
• Pd-LA: Howto install Kinect on OS X 10.6.x
• Howto install openNI kinect drivers and NITE on gentoo Linux
• Ubuntu PPA by Hans-Christoph Steiner including OpenNI, OSCeleton, Primesense Kinect and NITE
• OSCeleton takes kinect skeleton data from the OpenNI framework and outputs the coordinates of the skeleton's joints via OSC messages. These can can then be used on your language / framework of choice. Needs openNI.
• Pure Data patch to receive and visualize the skeleton data from osceleton Needs OSCeleton (which needs OpenNI)
• how to install openNI on OS X using macports and visualize the skeleton in Max/MSP (or Pd)
• skeleton data in Quartz Composer via Max/MSP
• iisu

Running depth image and skeleton data on workstation Rafael

Change user of the computer to admin (Apple menu: logout user/User abmelden). Make sure Kinect is connected.

Depth image in Pd

1. open Pd
2. open pix_freenect-help.pd in Folder kinect on harddrive Rafael Data RAID
3. open gemwin and activate the accel toggle

Skeleton Data in Pd

1. open the terminal and Pd
2. in the terminal type: cd /Volumes/Rafael\ Data\ RAID/kinect/Sensebloom-OSCeleton OR: type: cd (+ space) and drag the folder Sensebloom-OSCeleton from Folder kinect on harddrive Rafael Data RAID into the terminal window
3. Enter. Type ./osceleton (optional: If you want to change the port add: "-p" and the port number. If you want to see the picture the Kinect is tracking add: "-w"), then press enter again.
4. Because OSCeleton has some hiccups i recommend adding a "while true" loop to make sure it starts again when a problem appears. Makes the command: "while true; do ./osceleton; done"
5. open OSCeleton.pd from Folder pd-skeleton in Folder kinect on harddrive Rafael Data RAID with Pd

Successors/Competitors

• Asus Xtion (PRO, PRO Live)
• https://www.leapmotion.com
• http://duo3d.com
• http://www.softkinetic.com producer of TOF CMOS Sensors (and possibly manufacturer of the Kinect 3 module?)