Kinect Swords Presentation

(A presentation widget should be visible below. If you can't see it, you can click here to view it in fullscreen or here to read the transcript.)

(A presentation widget should be visible above. If you can't see it, you can click here to view it in fullscreen or here to read the transcript.)

Kinect Swords Redux 1

Kinect Sword (Very Rough Concept Model)

This post serves as a more thorough explanation of the thinking behind the "Kinect Swords". It's designed to introduce people to the high-concepts involved, but would also be an interesting read for those that want to know where the idea came from.

How to Tell Kinect its 3D Location

The real 3D location of Kinect relative to the TV is very important for several aspects of the Kinect Swords system, particularly "head-look", where the orientation of your head affects the game camera angle. With the TV's dimensions and real location relative to Kinect, you can determine where the player's body is relative to the TV, including where exactly on-screen the player is facing. Without this knowledge, the system would have to assume "forward and level" is the center of the head-look deadzone. With this knowledge, (among other abilities now available) you can put the head-look deadzone truly in the middle of the TV screen.

I mentioned in the Kinect + Swords presentation and in my Kinect Preliminary Analysis that Kinect is capable of determining its location in 3D space relative to the TV, but haven't explicitly stated how it can do this... until now.

Kinect location calibration process as seen by the player
(click image to see full-size)

Kinect + Swords

I've written a presentation finalizing (given current knowledge) the Kinect peripheral I describe in my Project Natal Preliminary Analysis. It also describes the peripheral's many advantages.

Example Kinect controller-less mech game HUD concept

Example Kinect controller-less mech game HUD concept I just made

Different symbols represent different functions. You reach into the HUD and move your hand into a symbol to trigger its function. On the left, we have move/turn controls, on the right, we have target, dash, and fire controls, and up top we have the mech's remaining shield energy.

Preliminary Analysis: Move

This is a preliminary analysis of the PlayStation Move (preliminary in that the Move hasn't been released to the general public yet).

Depending on who you believe, the PlayStation Move will be either far better than Kinect or at least comparable. That said, it's got a completely different set of problems to worry about.

Preliminary Analysis: Project Natal (Part 2)

This is part two of an ongoing preliminary analysis of Project Natal (preliminary in that the Natal device hasn't been released to the general public yet). If you haven't read part one yet, it's best that you do so now. Keep in mind that everything in this preliminary analysis consists of educated guesswork based only on what the public has been told.

This article answers some questions raised by readers about part one, discusses how the Natal device works, some issues that arise because of how the Natal device works, and the current ideal controller Project Natal would need to resolve those issues.

Preliminary Analysis: Project Natal (Part 1)

From what I've seen, there's an inherent design flaw with Project Natal.

First press shots of Sony's PS Wand

Sony has finally released a picture of the final (or near-final) design on their motion controller.

PS Wand Science and Origins Explained

Sony has released more detailed videos explaining the science and origins of the PS Wands.