14 DAY TRIAL // The Microsoft Research website says that the upcoming PC based Software Development Kit for the Kinect motion tracking system will include access to a number of advanced features, like tracking of the entire skeleton structure of the gamer and use of the included directional microphone.
The information says that developers will be able to use the four microphone array, which has noise canceling features, to capture commands from players and then use the Microsoft made speech detection software to translate them into input.
The Kinect sensors will also allow application creators to track the skeleton structure of up to two players.
These features are important because they are missing from the unofficial drivers that enthusiast tinkerers created after Kinect was launched for the Xbox 360 in order to make the device compatible with a number of PC-based application and gamers.
Microsoft has not offered a more concrete launch date for the PC Kinect SDK, but rumors from inside the company are talking about May 16 as the day when the package is out.
The official Microsoft-made SDK will make it easier to use the Kinect for a variety of real world purposes, making motion tracking important beyond the rather limited space of video gaming.
Since Kinect was launched on November 4, 2010 in the United States Microsoft has managed to sell 10 million devices and also moved the same number of video games powered by it to gamers.
Kinect has already been adapted for use with the World of Warcraft MMO and a slew of shooters.
Hospitals have also used the device, with surgeons adapting it to see scans during surgery without needing to leave the operating space and then scrub back again.
Kinect can also be used to create a more objective-based evaluation routine for children with development problems.