Kinect for Windows

by Microsoft

• Utilize Kinect skeletal-tracking, sophisticated microphone array, and other sensor technologies
• Link computers to Kinect devices running Windows 7 and Windows 8 Developer Preview
• Run applications built with the Kinect for Windows Commercial Software Development Kit (SDK)
• Use the Kinect for Windows SDK to build applications with C++, C#, or Visual Studio Basic by using Microsoft Visual Studio 2010

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 15 x 15 x 4.9 inches ; 2.4 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B006UIS53K
• Item model number: L6M-00001
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (25 customer reviews)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: January 9, 2012

Product Description

From the Manufacturer

Technical Details

• Utilize Kinect skeletal-tracking, sophisticated microphone array, and other sensor technologies
• Explore the limitless opportunities to transform products, processes, and businesses
• Link computers to Kinect devices running Windows 7 and Windows 8 Developer Preview
• Run applications built with the Kinect for Windows Commercial Software Development Kit (SDK)
• Use the Kinect for Windows SDK to build applications with C++, C#, or Visual Studio Basic by using Microsoft Visual Studio 2010

Product Detail

The Kinect for Windows sensor unit is intended to be used with the following:

• Kinect for Windows Commercial SDK
• An application that was developed using the Kinect for Windows Commercial SDK and associated runtime software.

Note: The sensor unit does not ship with any software, and will only operate with an application developed for Kinect for Windows.

What’s in the Box

• Kinect for Windows sensor
• USB/power supply cable
• Safety Manual - includes Safety Information, Warranty Information, Customer Support Contact information

Hardware Requirements

• 32 bit (x86) or 64 bit (x64) processor
• Dual-core 2.66-GHz or faster processor
• Dedicated USB 2.0 bus
• 2 GB RAM

OS Requirements

• Requires Windows 7 or Windows Embedded Standard 7

Legal Copy

The Kinect for Windows Commercial Software Development Kit is licensed to users and not sold. Using the SDK requires acceptance of software license agreement available in the product manual. You accept these terms by using the Kinect for Windows sensor. You may not copy or reverse engineer the software. This product is not for use with the Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system. Warranty terms available in enclosed product manual.

Product Description

Microsoft Kinect for Windows includes Kinect for Windows sensor, USB/Power supply cable, Manual. 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. Use the Kinect for Windows SDK to build applications with C++, C# or Visual Studio Basic by using Microsoft Visual Studio 2010. What availability of this product will do is facilitate the ability of developers and commercial customers to explore the limitless opportunities to transform products, processes, and businesses. Three important points regarding Kinect for Windows: This product is not the same product as Kinect for Xbox 360 product, and is not intended for use with Xbox 360s. This is not a consumer product. This is a Kinect development product for Windows, intended for commercial clients and developers. This product requires an application developed for Kinect for Windows in order to operate.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

57 of 58 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Welcome to the Future February 16, 2012

By James Ashley

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. Read more ›

32 of 34 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Great product - for software developers only February 10, 2012

By Robot Guy

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.

24 of 27 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars This is not a consumer product YET!!!! February 10, 2012

By djgooner

Amazon Verified Purchase

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.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars I'm using it everyday for my presentations March 28, 2012

By Julien

Hi, I have read the reviews and just wanted to give a feedback on my own experience as I'm not a developer and I use this device daily to give presentations. The Kinect for Windows doesn't come with a software but some companies have already released some professional software for it. I'm using So touch Air Presenter with my Kinect for Windows and I do my commercial presentations with it everyday. My customers are wowed each time I change slide, I love it :) I'm a commercial so it might be specific to my job but I can really see this devices along with similar software be used in class-rooms or for training purposes. I'm sure we will very soon see some Kinect app store with hundreds, thousands, millions of app for it. I agree with Robot Guy and James about the potential, welcome to the future!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A fun toy, FOR PROGRAMING and TINKERING March 1, 2012

By Nathan Kull

Amazon Verified Purchase

This is not, and will not be (at least in the near term) a product for the typical end user.

One other person commented that this is also only good for those that are experienced programmers... I would like to point out that is not entirely true either ... There are some resorces available that will help you get started with programing with this device. I am not an expert programmer, i don't even consider myself a good programer, but I'm using this device to learn a lot of things... I've wanted to learn more programming, however a big issue with me is that I just didnt know what to make / didnt have anything interesting to work on... This device changes that and makes the process of learning a fun experience for me. Learning with this device will further my abilities and make me more marketable, not because I can program a Kinect but because I'm motivated to learn more programing in general because of the Kinect.

If your kind of a geek, and want a toy to play with, something that will challange you to learn some new things and have fun while you are at it, this is a pretty cool item to pick up!

If you want something to plug into your computer that will make your computer do some neat things out of the box, you might want to move on and get a different toy.

Additional Note: You are going to want to have a decent computer to plug this into... I'm getting ready to upgrade my very old dual core system, but this thing is killing my computer right now... Anytime I start talking to this device my CPU utilization runs solid at 100% and it is not giving me a very good frame rate on the video feeds. THIS IS NOT THE SENSORS FAULT, I'm just putting a note here that your computer does make a difference with this device! ...... That being said, I am still playing with it and enjoying my time learning about the product. Read more ›