Kinect Frackus

[preacher]

So...Microsoft finally has squashed that Red Circle of Death "feature" for the XBOX 360 <cough> **** poor quality control <cough> poorly engineered console <cough><cough> and now the Kinect apparently has trouble with facial recognition of black people.

http://www.gamespot.com/news/6283514...es%3Btitle%3B3

Apparently poor environmental lighting is to blame. Last I checked CCD chips didn't need much light. As a professional in CCTV system designer Microsoft's claim sounds like bunk.

My take on this is that Microsoft didn't learn their lesson from their mess up with the base system and they have decided to once again push a product onto store shelves for the christmas rush and to hell with quality.

Nintendo must be laughing their butts off.

[Lord Malakite]

Nintendo must be laughing their butts off.

Considering both Sony and Microsoft are now imitating the Wii's unique selling feature (albeit by different methods) to stay in competition, probably.

[preacher]

Actually got to thinking about this a bit more. Doesn't the 360 have games with frame rates that are something like 60fps? If so, in order for a virtual person to interact seemless the camera would need to capture video at the same rate. The higher the frame rate the more light is needed because the shutter is letting less light onto the chip each second.

So I'm going to retract what I said earlier. I think Microsoft's reasoning is valid. However, if you need more light than an office environment in order for black people to play why even bother with this technology at all?

[bigbarada]

Actually got to thinking about this a bit more. Doesn't the 360 have games with frame rates that are something like 60fps? If so, in order for a virtual person to interact seemless the camera would need to capture video at the same rate. The higher the frame rate the more light is needed because the shutter is letting less light onto the chip each second.

So I'm going to retract what I said earlier. I think Microsoft's reasoning is valid. However, if you need more light than an office environment in order for black people to play why even bother with this technology at all?

I bought an XBox 360 a couple of months ago and considered picking up this Kinect add-on. But the light requirements and the fact that you have to stand 6-8 feet in front of the sensor for it to function optimally, pretty much nix any plans that I had to get this. I'm not going to rearrange my entire living room for a video game.

I think the Kinect add-on costs about $200 by itself and if you buy it with the baseline XBox, it's $400. You can still get a Wii, with the motion-control features built-in, the Wii-Motion Plus, and two games for $200. I was wondering if Nintendo was planning to lower the prices of their Wii system, in response to the XBox Kinect and Sony's version of a motion control add-on; but I don't really think they need to. Nintendo is still the best deal on the market.

[Lord Malakite]

However, if you need more light than an office environment in order for black people to play why even bother with this technology at all?

From what I read the only real problem Kinect seems to be having is with the facial recognition (which mainly gives quick access to things like save data and multiplayer mode on the fly). The actual game play aspect of Kinect (following hand/leg/body movements and corresponding that data on screen) appears to be working well.

I was wondering if Nintendo was planning to lower the prices of their Wii system, in response to the XBox Kinect and Sony's version of a motion control add-on; but I don't really think they need to. Nintendo is still the best deal on the market.

Haven't seen anything about a price drop, but Nintendo has done two things recently that I've noticed to make themselves slightly more marketable. First, they just recently released a new version of the Wii remote controller with the Wii-Motion Plus directly built-in (so you no longer have to buy the Wii-Motion Plus accessory). Second, they just released a new red "limited edition" Wii that comes bundled with New Super Mario Bros. Wii in addition to Wii Sports and Wii Sports Resort.

[DarkArtist]

I work for the Recreation Department in town and we just got the PS3 with motion for some programs we are running... haven't had a chance yet to try out the new motion controller but I think based on what we see here at the office is going to be the deciding factor to if I want the motion controller for my setup at home.

i think it's kinda funny that Wii comes out and all of a sudden now X-Box and PS3 copy the idea of motion controllers.... I mean I know the X-box has no controller and is camera capture tech but still it makes me wonder if PS and X-Box have no original ideas and just copy what someone else has done before them

[Lord Malakite]

I mean I know the X-box has no controller and is camera capture tech but still it makes me wonder if PS and X-Box have no original ideas and just copy what someone else has done before them

Isn't the first time an idea by Nintendo has been copied/improved upon by another company. Directional cross pads (+) started with the NES. Shoulder buttons started on the SNES. Analog thumb sticks and rumble feature started with the N64. And working motion control started with the Wii (there were a few failed 3rd party attempts at motion control back during the NES days).

[JediTricks]

I just got Gran Turismo 5 for the PS3 last week specifically because it uses the PS Eye camera system to track the player's head movements. It's really cool, one thing I've always hated about driving sim games is that you have to use a joystick to look in the direction of the mirrors or side of the car. With the head tracking set up right, you turn your head in the direction and the game does it too. It's a little twitchy at times, and only works in arcade mode, but it's a big step forward in simulator elements to video games.

That all said, the camera is pretty light-sensitive and distance-inhibited, so it's not surprising that it'd have trouble comparing facial features on darker-skinned people in low light situations - it uses the distance between the eyes, nose, and mouth to recognize faces, and if it cannot see the nose properly then it cannot work. I think it's funny that anybody is calling this a "fracas" though, totally disappeared off the map. You know what's not disappeared though? People hacking the Kinect to become truly amazing PC devices like 3D mappers and such. There's even folks who have hacked it to play Super Mario Bros, even though it looks totally ridiculous watching them shuffle and crouch and leap.