Customer Reviews

Kinect Sensor for Windows

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Folks,

Read the Amazon description! I'm not a big Microsoft fan, but they have really done it right with this product. Kinect, and spin off technologies like this, will completely change the way people interact with their computers, and eventually with their cell phones (give it some time).

But, this is not a consumer device at this point. It is being distributed to enable developers like me to innovate.

From the Amazon Product Description:
"... NOTE: The sensor unit does not ship with any software and will only operate with an application developed for Kinect for Windows. Not for Gaming Use. ... This is not a consumer product. This is a Kinect development product for Windows, intended for commercial clients and developers."

Seems like they are delivering exactly what they say.

After seeing the two negative reviews i have to come and counter it. PEOPLE BEWARE. This is not a consumer level product yet. It is for programmers and prosumers with programming skills.

This has been released by Microsoft so that us the developers can make great products on windows, for the consumers to use. Read the website kinectforwindows this is purely geared towards programmers rite now. Come on folks, dont bash this product. This product is a new beginning in computing, and when you start using computers in a brand new way you will be amazed.

First off, I just spent several months writing a book about programming the SDK for the Kinect Sensor for Windows -- so I'm invested rather deeply in the technology. In that regard, please take what I say with a grain of salt.

My regrets to those who purchased the sensor without knowing what they were getting into. The upside is that since these sensors keep selling out, you can very quickly recoup your money by selling it on ebay. There is no shortage of people who want it.

What the Kinect for Windows hardware provides is an inexpensive device (even at $249.99) for streaming depth images and gathering skeleton data (physical location and orientation of joints), as well as a sophisticated directional microphone array. Combined with the Kinect for Windows SDK (the libraries Microsoft has created to work with all this data) and a decent developer, you can create applications that do facial detection, motion detection, skeleton detection, green screening (like for Star Wars), gesture tracking (like Minority Report), and more. It's an incredible amount of power in a small package.

What we do with all this power is unclear. It's almost pure potential at this point. You can, however, go over to sites like [...] and see some of the concepts people are coming up with. All of that was done with hacked software and a version of the Kinect sensor designed to be plugged into an Xbox.

The Kinect sensor for Windows (along with the Kinect for Windows SDK -- free to download), on the other hand, is a commercial product meant to be used for commercial products. This is Microsoft's first rev of a commercial/non-gaming product based on Kinect technology.

Some of us in the developer and design communities feel it marks a transformation in how we interact with computers. Over the next year, we will begin to see these sensors in store windows, in airports, in high-end retail locations -- basically in many places outside of our living rooms -- providing exciting and hopefully helpful experiences for the consumer. The people currently picking up these sensors are mostly product developers building tools for these scenarios.

We who have been working with the technology also hope that some brilliant entrepreneur will develop a use case for the home -- maybe advanced communication software or home automation software -- that will propel sales of the device and make it desireable for your basic consumer rather than software developers and product engineers to start picking them up. There's no knowing at this point though, and even Microsoft doesn't know how it will turn out.

On the other hand, they have made an investment in pushing this technology forward and have expended quite some effort in creating the commercial-ready software we will be using to develop for it and I'm grateful for that.

If you aren't a developer, this is probably not the time to start buying these sensors. Wait for a killer app to come along that takes advantage of Kinect. If you are a developer learning the Kinect, you can get away with using the Kinect sensor for Xbox if you already have one.

This sensor is for people who are using the Kinect for Windows SDK and are ready to start making products or need to start showing their Kinect ideas to investors -- or simply are putting up art installations in public spaces. It's for the people who are ready to start redesigning the future. It's obviously not going to be for everyone, though. Not yet anyways.

This is an amazing product. It can recognnize body joints and movement just by looking at you. However, be aware this for developers ONLY. It coming with nothing that will help you use it is any way. You have to go on the web and find tutorials and demos from microsoft.com and coding4fun.com. You MUST have, and be proficient with Visual Studio. Don't buy this unless you has extensive experience with C++ or VB.NET and know how to use references and libraries. It is bit like buying a PC in the eighties - You had to know what you wanted to do with it.

If you have the knowledge and have an application to create a truly remarkable UI then get this, otherwise wait for someone to make you a consumer product out of this.

I was always amazed for developing some software via Kinect, and now I have the chance!
Kinect is a game-changer for the world of interaction, and now it is available for PCs.
IMPORTANT NOTE:
Dear guys, it is NOT a gaming toy, there is NO software included. You have to have programming knowledge to use this device, and develop your own applications for Kindect; please don't be misunderstood, or you are going to leave unfair low-rated comments here!
For ending: You have to download "Kinect for Windows SDK" and add it to your Visual Studio to be able to make some apps for Kinect using C++, C#, or Visual Basic.

This product is hardware only. No manual; no software. Plug it into Windows 8 Developer Preview and drivers download, but that's it. Install the Software Development Kit (SDK) and you can see the crudest demos. I also downloaded a couple of third party tools, none of which worked. Right now, it's a paperweight.

Hopefully, when Windows 8 Consumer Preview comes out 2/29/11, this Kinect will become useful. More likely, it will take months. By which time, the price will come down. Wait, unless you're a developer.

Details: Amazon deletes a link here, so search for supersite kinect for professional evaluation of this package as it stands right now (could change anytime).

I was SHOCKED when I opened the box and the Kinnect for Windows contained NO OPERATING SOFTWARE... huh? Why are you selling this AMAZON? It is a $250.00 paperweight unless your a programmer. When I buy electronics I expect them, for the most part, to be plug and play or at the very least to have some drivers to load. This comes with NOTHING, absolutely no software. Plugging it in does nothing. Microsoft's site says, "Kinect for Windows hardware is tested, optimized, and designed to operate on computers running Windows 7, Windows Embedded Standard 7, and Windows 8 Developer Preview (desktop applications only). It also provides a fully supported end-user experience..."

HUH? I'm an end-user and this does NOTHING whatsoever. Thanks Microsoft and Amazon.

this isnt ready for primetime. it doesnt do anything. there are no instructions included or driver software to even make it work. i cant beleve this is official microsoft hardware. sorry this is going straight back.