Ever since Microsoft® launched the Kinect™ for the Xbox 360 last November, people have expressed interest in using its real-time ability to recognize objects, faces, gestures, 3D environments and voices in everything from gaming to autonomous robots.

The core technology behind the Kinect is fascinating in its possibilities; although it took considerable effort to create anything because there were no official tools available. Despite some early miscommunications, Microsoft has always been supportive of development projects for the Kinect, and has announced that they will soon be releasing a non-commercial SDK to help those interested in development, and will follow that up with a commercial SDK later this year.

Although there have been many extremely impressive applications created for the Kinect, the new SDK will allow "higher level" access to the sensors, which will make apps and control even more precise.

Commercial Development

The only commercial development currently underway involves video games for the Xbox 360. But the Kinect runs in a .NET environment which is familiar to many developers, and makes it relatively easy to develop custom PC applications using the technology.

So what would commercial development look like? Or perhaps more importantly, what will a commercial Kinect "app" look like?

The Kinect is extremely adept in its ability to recognize and understand its environment. It does this with a system of cameras, distance sensors, and software, and can provide recognition in real-time. This means that if it attached to an autonomous flying helicopter for example, it can navigate obstacles, hoops, and dodge other moving objects to complete tasks or play games.

Of course it is not as simple as just attaching the Kinect to something, but the new SDK will certainly make it a lot easier. But the Kinect is certainly not limited to just games and toys, and the availability and support for the Kinect will help lead innovation.

As Microsoft’s chief research and strategy officer Craig Mundie said at the press conference, "As breakthrough technologies like these reach scale the resulting creativity and invention will open up a whole new world of possibilities for computing."

We hope so! Microsoft’s focus with the Kinect is really about creating a natural user interface. A natural user interface (NUI) is designed so that users can interact with computers in a natural way, much like how people interact with one another. This involves vocal commands, gestures, body language, and multiple simultaneous streams of information being passed back and forth.

Microsoft has invested heavily in NUI technologies and we have been working to help our clients adapt those technologies into commercial use, such as Development for Microsoft Surface (and now Surface 2.0), as well as developing custom Windows Phone 7 apps.

Will there be a market for commercial software development for the Kinect? Or course! With the Kinect, it is all about imagination and innovation. Just as some people doubted the viability of the iPhone™ app, or the Surface, or even the personal computer, others have been able to dream big and see the possibilities.

We hope we are always on the side of the dreamers, and we are anxiously awaiting the official Kinect SDK.