Big Brother

006/365

I was talking with a co-worker about the Microsoft Kinect today. For those that do not know, the Kinect is a motion sensing camera for the Xbox 360 and is marketed towards casual gamers with the promise of controller-free gaming. The device has so much more potential than just that though.

When the device was first announced, it was called Natal and there were people who envisioned that the camera device could be placed all over a household and be used to track the people inside it. The cameras would be connected to the house's network and could provide services like voice command video phone and messaging services. Imagine walking around the house while the Kinect cameras keep following you broadcasting your video feed to the person you are talking to over the internet. The system then also moves their video feed through the monitors in the house. The system is apparently intelligent enough to discern individuals so that it doesn't accidentally end up following someone else.

But it's so much more than that too. With these cameras everywhere, we can finally do somethings we couldn't before. Look back at my post yesterday where I talked about being able to track a person's workout. This system, with refinements will most likely be able to track an individual's activity so the level where it can count reps of a workout. Hell, there are fitness games for it already too so that's not that big of a stretch.