Microsoft is allowing access to some of the code for its Kinect product. Kinect is a motion-sensing device whereby players move their body to manipulate images on screen.
Microsoft released samples of the code through an Apache license that allows hackers to create apps for the device. While previously Kinect users had to operate through an official software toolkit that disguised the underlying code, the new release will allow for faster uptake. Microsoft claims it released the code to boost the Kinect's ease of use and also to get more feedback on the device.
"We are happy to announce we are releasing the Kinect for Windows samples under an open source license," Microsoft wrote in a blog post. "You can find everything on CodePlex: https://kinectforwindows.codeplex.com/. We have posted a total of 22 unique samples in C#, C ++, and Visual Basic."
In order to use the samples you will need the SDK and Microsoft toolkit.
Hackers began writing code for the Kinect soon after its release in 2010. Thereafter Microsoft supported these efforts by releasing a software development kit and a program allowing the device to be controlled through Windows. These programs never unveiled the core code, however, and were thus beset with limitations that have not been breached until now. Microsoft also hopes to get feedback regarding the release.
"We will use CodePlex's built-in feedback & discussion tools to get community input on the samples," Microsoft states. "We want to hear from you to understand what we can do better with the samples."
Kinect's success has been a surprise, even to Microsoft. The device won a "Guinness World Record" for fastest-selling consumer electronics device. At last week's TechFest in Redmond, Wash., the company demonstrated Kinect Fusion, a new version of Kinect for Windows that scans objects and recreates them into 3D images.
