Microsoft's Kinect is awesome. Not because of the stupid minigames you can play with it on your Xbox360, but because of all the cool stuff hackers have been able to do with it. As entirely predicted, Microsoft has announced today that it will launch an official Kinect SDK for Windows. The device was already purposefully easy to hack, but official support is always a boon.
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Member since:
2008-03-17
"Kinect for Windows SDK"
Riiiiight. Because all the cool stuff people have been doing is only based on windows.
I know they really only have obligations towards Windows but there are open drivers right now that enable the same things for all platforms. It would have been way cooler if they made a software lib that was portable everywhere...
Member since:2005-09-27
Member since:2009-04-18
True it would be lovely if they did that but why would they need to. Windows is good enough for them. Once it is released someone can adapt the current open libraries to have the same interface as the official Windows only one, essentially making it laughably easy to switch between the two.
To be honest I'm happy Microsoft is doing this at all. Brilliant move on there part and make me like them that bit more, even though I use nothing Microsoft based really.
Member since:2005-07-06
Member since:2005-08-11
Member since:2005-12-23
Really? Why would a company develop an SDK for a competing platform?
Next you'll be asking why Microsoft aren't making Sony Playstation games, or contributing to the linux kernel ... oh wait, they did. There goes my argument....
Member since:2007-03-06
Next you'll be asking why Microsoft aren't making Sony Playstation games, or contributing to the linux kernel ... oh wait, they did. There goes my argument....
That's the problem with MS: they have lots of different divisions developing different products for different markets, yet all of them are conditioned by the single interests of their main cash cow: the Windows OS.
Oh well.
Member since:2006-01-06
Yeah, what a strange instinct for a company to have: Making money.
Member since:2007-03-06
It's not about making money but about the way they maximize their income and how it affects consumers and developers.
And just in case your feelings were hurt I'll add it's obviously not just a MS thing, eg. Apple also does it's fair share of lock-in.
But then again we were talking about Microsoft, weren't we?
Member since:2007-03-26
Riiiiight. Because all the cool stuff people have been doing is only based on windows.
I know they really only have obligations towards Windows but there are open drivers right now that enable the same things for all platforms. It would have been way cooler if they made a software lib that was portable everywhere...
....and in an ideal world Apple's App Store would stock GPL, Linux's 3D graphics drivers were well supported and my daily commute would cost half the current rail fare.
However in this universe most people game in Windows (excluding consoles obviously as we're talking desktop / laptop platforms) and Microsoft own Windows. So Redmond not only have a vested interest in supporting their own platform, it would be counter productive in them even releasing drivers for other OSs.
Besides, it's not like they hadn't left the Kinect wide up for people like us to use on non-MS platforms - albeit with community drivers rather than MS-endorsed .NET libraries.
Member since:
2005-12-04
Does this mean software developed with this SDK cannot be commercially distributed? It's a real shame to see such an interesting device being held back to only be first class on an Xbox.
On the other hand, is the GPL a commercial license? Will Microsoft really release something that promotes open source actively over proprietary systems? Strange world.
Member since:2005-07-06
On the other hand, is the GPL a commercial license? Will Microsoft really release something that promotes open source actively over proprietary systems? Strange world.
This will be released under one of MSR's research/academic licenses, so yes, the software developed with it can't be sold. A commercial SDK will come later, however.
This release will leverage Microsoft Research’s deep connections to academia worldwide and its long history of releasing software tools to the research community to foster creativity, experimentation, and new research directions.
http://research.microsoft.com/en-us/news/features/kinectforwindowss...
Member since:
2006-01-04
If you don't want to wait, don't want to worry about how the SDK may be permitted to be used or just want something different, here are some things that are available now.
http://codelaboratories.com/kb/nui
I didn't download the NUI SDK because it is an exe, so I haven't checked to see what license they are using.
http://www.primesense.com/?p=515
PrimeSense links to http://www.openni.org/ for SDK downloads. The source tree at github has GPL and LGPL licenses.
I am not a programmer, so it is unlikely that I will be able to answer normal (or any) inquiries about these tools. But here they are in case you are interested.
Member since:
2008-04-15
Member since:2005-08-11
Member since:2008-04-15
Member since:
2005-11-14
Member since:2005-06-29
Member since:2005-07-12
No official announcement yet, but:
http://tinyurl.com/49tdx49
So, seems likely, but still rumor at this point.
Member since:2005-08-11
Member since:2005-07-08
Member since:2009-01-09
You may say what you want, but Microsoft is one of the most developer friendly companies out there, regardless of their business practices.
This is true. They know that they need 3rd party developers, because they can't develop everything themselves & most of the innovation actually comes from outside of MS. How else would their platforms gain traction? This is also how they decide who to acquire & who to push out of business. So, yes, they're one of the most developer friendly companies around, but remember the old saying: Enemies stab you in the back, friends stab you in the front.