Kinect

Whether it’s through parents’ forgetfulness, ignorance or just plain not caring, it does sometimes happen ... small children die from heatstroke after being left unattended in a hot parked car. According to a 2012 study conducted by the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, an average of 38 such deaths occur in the United States alone each year. While various systems have been developed to help keep this from happening, three engineering undergrads from Baltimore’s Johns Hopkins University have taken a unique approach. They’ve converted a Microsoft Kinect into a child-in-the-hot-car detector.  Read More

At CES in January, Microsoft Research teased its IllumiRoom concept, which involves projecting an image around a TV screen to enhance video games with additional visuals. Unfortunately, the company didn't offer much info beyond a short video that briefly showed it in action. But the team behind the project recently showed up at the CHI 2013 conference in Paris with some more in-depth details about how Illumiroom will not only expand the game screen, but completely alter the appearance of your living room.  Read More

A lot of people are getting excited about the upcoming availability of the Tobii REX device, that adds eye-tracking capability to existing computers. If it’s any indication of what consumer prices will be, a Developer Edition is currently available for US$995. Munich-based startup 4titoo, however, is hoping that consumers might be swayed towards its $60 alternative. It’s called the NUIA eyeCharm, and it works with the user’s existing Kinect.  Read More

It wasn’t that long ago that constructing 3D models was a painstaking and time-consuming task. These days, devices such as the Lynx A camera are turning it into a point and shoot affair. Microsoft is also doing its bit to make life easier for graphic artists, 3D printing aficionados, industrial designers, animators, architects, and games developers by turning its Kinect for Windows sensor to the task of generating 3D models of objects and environments.  Read More

What could be better than a 3D-printed model of yourself? The answer of course is a 3D-printed model of yourself filled with candy. That's exactly what Hot Pop Factory recently made, when it created several working Pez dispensers fashioned after individual people's heads.  Read More

The way we play video games is forever evolving. Nintendo brought motion control to the masses with the Wii, while the rise of smartphones and tablets has meant the number of casual games (and casual gamers) has grown exponentially over the past few years. What is next on the agenda? The signs all point towards a more immersive experience being the main aim and Microsoft Research is keen to lead the way with IllumiRoom.  Read More

Invented in 1959, the extremely elastic synthetic fiber spandex can be found in cycling shorts and other figure-hugging sportswear. It's also made its way into home furnishings and served as a leave-nothing-to-the-imagination 70s rock god favorite. Now, it has well-and-truly entered the digital age with the creation of Firewall, an interactive performance wall that alters the speed, volume or intensity of music in response to a user pressing into its membrane, while also showing off some eye-popping, user-reactive visuals.  Read More

Microsoft is beginning to emerge from what some have called "the missing decade" as a company eager to innovate and forge the future rather than be dragged along into it by its competitors. The Xbox brand is very much part of popular culture, and the Xbox 360 is expected to be superseded by a successor in 2013. But Microsoft is looking even further forward than that, with a recently revealed patent application suggesting the company wants to turn living rooms into something akin to the holodecks featured in Star Trek.  Read More

For many sufferers of aphasia, a disorder caused by stroke that impairs the language centers of the brain, simple things like writing or typing up emails become incredibly difficult. One inventor, though, has created an email interface based on the Kinect system that allows his mom to do the impossible, and send simple emails to her friends and family.  Read More