Kinect Hacks

Homebrew Kinect software just passed the "cool" threshold into "a little scary," making Microsoft's camera device do things we shouldn't reasonably expect out of controllers. In the two-plus months since the creation of open-source drivers for Microsoft's Kinect made it possible to hack the popular motion controller, the device has been used as a sophisticated piano, to add voice control to popular video games, to create 3D renderings of a car's path, and even for a demo of soft-core porn. Martin Szarski strapped a Kinect sensor to his car, hooked it up to a laptop and Nexus One phone (for location data) and set about creating a "point cloud" of his car's path. Using a phone with a gyroscope to better sense the car's movement, Szarski said, the cloud would appear clearer. But for a 3D space captured by a $150 game controller, it's pretty impressive, no? Imagine this cheap DIY tech in the hands of indie devs, who could create levels by exploring in real life. So far, hackers have figured out how to get the Kinect to do all kinds of things Microsoft never imagined. Here, we see a still from a video showing a hacker who rigged a Kinect to an iPod Touch in order to control the hit game Angry Birds with hand gestures.