The technical specs for Kinect have been revealed, and are quite fascinating.
The first thing that will jump out at most gamers is that Kinect can recognize up to six players, but that is followed by “including 2 active players”. Does this mean it’ll only recognize two players moving at once and limit the game to two player games, or does it mean it won’t deal with two players performing complex moves, since quiz games on Kinect reputedly can handle more than two players. Dance Central is able to handle three players.
Other interesting facets include the voice recognition; Kinect will understand multiple languages, and even better, it’ll be incorporated into Party Chat and in- and cross-game chat. This could make the headset superfluous, especially with the echo cancellation feature of Kinect.
Another note is that Kinect is compatible with all Xbox 360’s, but the Xbox 360 Slim has a special port specifically for Kinect, which means that there will probably be a USB adapter for non Xbox 360 S consoles.
Click “Read more…” for the full specs.
Sensor
- Color and depth-sensing lenses
- Voice microphone array
- Tilt motor for sensor adjustment
- Fully compatible with existing Xbox 360 consoles
Field of View
- Horizontal field of view: 57 degrees
- Vertical field of view: 43 degrees
- Physical tilt range: 27 degrees
- Depth sensor range: 1.2m – 3.5m
Data Streams
- 320×240 16-bit depth @ 30 frames/sec
- 640×480 32-bit colour@ 30 frames/sec
- 16-bit audio @ 16 kHz
Skeletal Tracking System
- Tracks up to 6 people, including 2 active players
- Tracks 20 joints per active player
- Ability to map active players to LIVE Avatars
Audio System
- LIVE party chat and in-game voice chat (requires Xbox LIVE Gold Membership)
- Echo cancellation system enhances voice input
- Speech recognition in multiple languages
Jonah Falcon is a blogger for TMRzoo and GameStooge.com and covers all gaming consoles and platforms including Sony Playstation 3, Microsoft XBOX 360, Nintendo Wii, Sony PSP and computer games designed for Mac OS, Microsoft Windows and Linux operating systems. Jonah provides his readers with reviews, previews and up to date gaming industry news and rumors.
