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Microsoft Has Stopped Manufacturing The Kinect

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Re: Microsoft Has Stopped Manufacturing The Kinect

#101

Post by awalton »

Bjorkbat wrote: post #67

This is a shame. I mean, yeah, it was a pretty awkward gaming accessory, but outside the context of gaming people were doing some pretty fun things with it. A powerful sensor at a ridiculously cheap cost that you could use to create amazing things, provided of course your imagination wasn't weighed down by the latest dumb tech trend. That last statement is just as true now as it was when the Kinect originally came ou…

It's not really a shame. The Kinect is out of date and never caught on, and there are much better newer sensors that play the same role for researchers and experimenters. If you'd buy a Kinect for hacking, you'd buy Intel's Euclid or another RealSense camera, e.g.

If anything, it's surprising Microsoft kept building and subsidizing these things for as long as they did.

Re: Microsoft Has Stopped Manufacturing The Kinect

#102

Post by swang »

Bjorkbat wrote: post #67

This is a shame. I mean, yeah, it was a pretty awkward gaming accessory, but outside the context of gaming people were doing some pretty fun things with it. A powerful sensor at a ridiculously cheap cost that you could use to create amazing things, provided of course your imagination wasn't weighed down by the latest dumb tech trend. That last statement is just as true now as it was when the Kinect originally came ou…

i mean, the amazon echo was a pretty interesting new thing that they created a market for. tthen once they realized people were buying it every big tech company jumped on it to not get behind.

the problem is if google doesn't go into the "speaker with a voice assistant" space, they allow amazon to possibly gain dominance in said space. this is why everyone wants to get in on drone delivery, self-driving cars, vr, etc..

and while "creative", the kinect wasn't a thing microsoft invented either. in fact, primesense, the company that created the original kinect got bought out by apple, and basically that tech is in the iphone x now.

Re: Microsoft Has Stopped Manufacturing The Kinect

#103

Post by cwyers »

coding123 wrote: post #83
cwyers wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's nothing dead about the Xbox One. Yes, the PS4 outsells it. But most games releases are on both systems, and Microsoft comes through with some solid exclusives ever year. I have an Xbox One and a PS4, and with games that come out on both systems, I play those on the Xbox One because Sony's UI is frustrating to me and it just seems like the software is less polished.

I had the 360 and finally broke down a long time ago to get the PS3 for a few games that were exclusive at the time. I was a PS hater for most of my adult console life. Then I started to realize I was paying Microsoft a yearly fee for a system I already bought and PS wasn't asking anything for the same services. The next system I bought was the PS4. There was some FUD about PS4 to start charging the same way XBox doe…

What do you mean, FUD? Sony's own website pretty clearly lays out that online multiplayer is a feature reserved for PS+ subscribers.

https://www.playstation.com/en-gb/get-help/help-library/play...

Re: Microsoft Has Stopped Manufacturing The Kinect

#104

Post by jandrese »

teraflop wrote: post #91
polpo wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Occipital still produces the Structure Sensor [1], which uses similar technology to the 1st generation Kinect. They've also recently introduced the Structure Core [2], a new generation, miniaturized depth sensor designed to be embedded into anything that needs that kind of sensing. [1] https://structure.io [2] https://structure.io/core

It's not a true replacement if it costs 10-20x as much, though.

I wonder how much the face sensor on the new iPhones is going to cost? Will people be able to buy it as a separate part? I have to think that for repair purposes it will be available, but the price point will no doubt be inflated.

Re: Microsoft Has Stopped Manufacturing The Kinect

#105

Post by bhouston »

robotresearcher wrote: post #38

The Kinect was a real boon for robotics research. A depth camera that worked pretty well, with skeleton extraction and directional audio? And the price is what!? My lab still uses a first gen Kinect regularly. Thanks to Jamie Shotton and the team for a sensor that made a difference to an incidental community. https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/video/body-part-rec...

I'm pretty sure cheap and high quality lidar is coming very very quickly - so many companies working on it. There will be no market for an awkward kinect. Kinect is not great compared to modern lidar systems anyhow, it was just more accessible.

Re: Microsoft Has Stopped Manufacturing The Kinect

#106

Post by hkmurakami »

Benjammer wrote: post #90
microcolonel wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> ridiculously cheap cost I think that's the problem, I figure it was meant to increase XBox game licensing money, not turn a direct profit.

Isn't this the backbone of the entire console gaming industry though? Has there ever been a popular console that directly turned a profit through hardware sales? I was under the impression that basically the entire revenue stream comes from game licensing fees from publishers, with hardware as loss leaders across the board.

Iirc the Wii sold at a profit because it deliberately used older technology.

Re: Microsoft Has Stopped Manufacturing The Kinect

#107

Post by ipsum2 »

awalton wrote: post #101
Bjorkbat wrote: post #67

This is a shame. I mean, yeah, it was a pretty awkward gaming accessory, but outside the context of gaming people were doing some pretty fun things with it. A powerful sensor at a ridiculously cheap cost that you could use to create amazing things, provided of course your imagination wasn't weighed down by the latest dumb tech trend. That last statement is just as true now as it was when the Kinect originally came ou…

It's not really a shame. The Kinect is out of date and never caught on, and there are much better newer sensors that play the same role for researchers and experimenters. If you'd buy a Kinect for hacking, you'd buy Intel's Euclid or another RealSense camera, e.g. If anything, it's surprising Microsoft kept building and subsidizing these things for as long as they did.

Except the Intel RealSense line-up does maybe 1/4th of what the Kinect does, and Intel is known for killing off pet projects quickly (see IoT)

Re: Microsoft Has Stopped Manufacturing The Kinect

#108

Post by ipsum2 »

nikolay wrote: post #53

Really? You kill a product right after Apple released something similar on iPhone and glories it?

Did you read the article at all? It says the Kinect sensor lives on in multiple products, including HoloLens and Windows Hello, which is pretty similar to FaceID.

Re: Microsoft Has Stopped Manufacturing The Kinect

#109

Post by flanbiscuit »

dawnerd wrote: post #45
WorldMaker wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you had a large enough dedicated room (I used most of a basement once, with a lot of setup work to give the Kinect the view of just about the whole room) and the right games (some games were less fiddly if multiple people/gestures were recognized that others [1]; though a lot of the management of it is still taking turns and having patience) it was sort of magic to watch particularly young kids play with the Kinec…

Speaking of magic, universal uses Kinect for Harry Potter in Knockturn Alley. Was surprised to see a simple Kinect running it (hard to see but it’s in a box to the left of the skeleton magic wand experience).

this? https://youtu.be/uUE_DaM8ymk?t=19s
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