Microsoft is introducing hand recognition and 3D modelling in real time to the Kinect for Windows. An update for version 1.7 of the Kinect for Windows software development kit will be available to download on March 18th, and also marks the first time that Microsoft will be releasing code samples for the SDK through CodePlex.
Microsoft has updated the software development kit for its Kinect sensor, adding facial expression recognition and other capabilities to its 3D camera system. The update comes ahead of Microsoft's release of the Kinect for Windows SDK, which will bring the Kinect's feature set from the Xbox 360 to Windows desktops and notebooks. The update is largely in keeping with what Microsoft previously revealed as forthcoming features for Kinect.
Microsoft has just revealed that the 1.5 release of its Kinect for Windows software is coming at the end of May. The most significant change will include what Microsoft calls "seated," or 10-joint skeletal tracking that will give the Kinect cameras the ability to track the arms, head, and neck of a user. This will work both in the near mode for seating as well as the regular, standing mode.
