While Microsoft’s Kinect is generally disliked as a video game peripheral, it certainly gets used for a number of zany tech ideas. Case in point– a new software that uses a projector in tandem with the Kinect to create a touch screen out of any surface. Just another sign we’re getting closer to “the future.”
Ubi Interactive — not to be confused with famous video game publisher Ubisoft — was assisted in the project by Microsoft themselves, who started a Kinect Accelerator program last year to help small companies like Ubi take full advantage of what the Kinect has to offer.
You can purchase Ubi’s program for $149 — which is lot less than most touch screen devices on the market, especially when you consider that this one supports up to 45 inch displays. If you want to go bigger and have up to 100 inches of space to work with, you can order a professional license for $379 or a business license for $799 — the latter provides two touch points instead of just one, which is why the price jumps so high. And if you really want to go all out you can buy the enterprise edition for $1,499, which features 20 touch points. However, you’ll need to supply your own Kinect and projector.
If the price tags and lack of company recognition are making you skeptical, don’t be — the tech’s been tested by 50 different organizations and works like a charm. Check out the video below to see the impromptu touch screens in action and laugh at that one guy getting way too excited about being able to play Angry Birds on the wall:
(via The Verge)
- The Kinect’s also been used to put cockroaches on autopilot.
- You can also use the Kinect to simulate landing on Mars.
- The Kinect is no longer mandatory for the Xbox One system.
Published: Aug 15, 2013 12:15 pm