MSFN Forum: Will Kinect Gain Windows Connections Soon?

Two weeks after Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer hinted that the company may soon come out with a way to integrate its hit Kinect controller-less game controller to Windows PCs, a popular tech rumors site reported that its sources say to watch for device drivers and a software developers kit (SDK) for Kinect perhaps in the near future.

WinRumors said this week that the SDK and device drivers are underway already.

"Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) is set to unveil driver support and an SDK in the coming months and will allow third-party developers to create titles that utilize the Kinect sensor when plugged into a PC," the tech site said.

Meanwhile, the University of Washington student newspaper, The Daily, reported that electrical engineering graduate students at the school figured out a way to use Microsoft's Kinect to provide force feedback for surgeons doing surgical robotics.

Kinect uses sensors to enable players to control games with movements and gestures using a small unit equipped with set of sensors to detect their motions in three dimensions. The controller, which only works with the Xbox 360 game console, began shipping in early November.

By many measures, the controller has been a hit.

Microsoft planned to sell 5 million Kinects during the holiday sales season but, instead, sold 8 million. Granted that those are units sold into the channel and not necessarily all sold to end users, the numbers are significant.

During an interview with the BBC at the Consumer Electronics Show in early January, Ballmer was asked whether Microsoft is working on a Kinect link up to PCs.

Full article:Datamation