Microsoft is bringing Kinect to Windows 7 devices

14 Apr 2011

Microsoft’s breakthrough motion-sensing gaming technology for the Xbox 360, the Kinect, could soon appear in the business world Minority Report style, enabling workers to physically interact with Office documents, for example.

Microsoft is releasing the Kinect SDK to developers, enabling them to create apps that use motion sensing and hand gestures.

It emerged at the Mix 11 conference in Las Vegas that Microsoft aims to bring out the much-desired SDK for Windows 7 to developers in the month ahead.

A catalyst for new computing interfaces?

The software giant is hoping developers themselves will find new uses for the technology and that it could serve as a catalyst for ways of interacting with data, and the business world.

The Microsoft Kinect for the Xbox 360 is the fastest-selling consumer electronics device in the world, having reached 10m sales in just a couple of months. Sales of the controller have outstripped those of the iPhone and iPad in terms of comparable periods and it has been entered into the Guinness Book of Records.

John Kennedy is a journalist who served as editor of Silicon Republic for 17 years

editorial@siliconrepublic.com