Game Gadgets

Though the Xbox 360 console and Xbox 360 controller for windows are very successful game gadgets having sold more than 54 million units worldwide; the Kinect holds the Guiness record as the fastest selling consumer electronics device ever. Kinect sold approximately 8 million units in its first 60 days of release.
The Kinect (combined usage of the words "kinetic" and "connect") is aptly named for a controlling device that plugs into an Xbox 360 console.
It is a black plastic horizontal bar that uses specialized cameras, three-dimensional infrared light, distance, motion, facial recognition and voice sensors that enable players to use gestures, motion and speech instead of the Xbox 360 controller.
On start-up, the kinetic bar moves and scans everything in a room. It not only locates you in the room but will identify you by tracking forty-eight features of your body - what you look like, how you move, and how you talk. It will know you, recognize you, and distinguish you (even a body part or facial gesture) from anyone or anything else in the room.
Kinect creates a digital replica of you within the game. What you do - your virtual double will also do. It’s an experience that no other game gadgets can create.

How It Works

The Kinect technology was developed by Microsoft as "Project Natal" and was based upon a sensory system created by PrimeSense, a company in Tel Aviv.
A projector floods the room with near-infrared light and captures the reflected rays. Complex algorithms then convert the data into a three-dimensional mapping of the area. It then processes this information with data collected from other sensors to identify and recognize everything in the room.
Although this technology may be the ultimate in game gadgets, Microsoft believes it is the just the beginning of something even more innovative.
Electromagnetic fields permeate our homes, our vehicles, and our neighborhoods because of electricity. Researchers have discovered a way for electromagnetic field frequencies to identify and recognize us.
What this means is that you may soon be able to control anything electrical in your home with the wink of an eye, flick of a finger, uttering of a word, or whatever gesture you prefer.