Microsoft To Back Kinect-Based Startups 200
angry tapir writes "Microsoft has announced a program designed to help 10 developers or startups launch businesses around products for Kinect, the controller that senses motion and voice. Developers with Kinect applications for the Xbox or Windows are invited to apply to the Kinect Accelerator program, even though Microsoft does not yet allow the sale of products based on Kinect for Windows."
Re:Rip-off central (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Yay (Score:5, Interesting)
I don't know, in my experience with Kinect.. (Score:5, Interesting)
It fails to detect a very large range of scenarios and poses and goes crazy with objects around the studio thinking it's persons. Put your arms together, show your side or move fast enough and it will get confused.
It's really easy to make it show broken poses and seems only designed for tracking people front-facing it directly with arms stretched outwards..
Even the unofficial opensource SDK does much better at keeping track of you than the real thing. Not to mention the enormous input lag.
So, is it me or has Kinect been hyped enormously for its rather lacking technical capabilities?
Am I the only one (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:Yay (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Fool me once ... fool me twice ... (Score:3, Interesting)
Kinect - Gathering Dust In Junk Closets Everywhere (Score:2, Interesting)
The only people dumb enough to buy Microsoft's Sony Eye Toy ripoff were the same idiots who jumped on the dead HD-DVD format.
Both are now sitting unused in those people's junk closets.
Re:Wrong (Score:3, Interesting)
You clearly haven't tried the Kinect. Currently it satisfies neither of those.
Re:Rip-off central (Score:4, Interesting)
$20k is not even semi-serious money for a start-up - especially considering that, with the competition, you're going to be at least at the working prototype stage, in which case you should be looking for first-round investors, not seed money.
This program is seed money (as well as equipment, office space and mentoring) to develop a prototype to present to investors, and if you'd bothered to actually read the page detailing the program you would know this and wouldn't be posting rubbish like this, it's really not that hard to find out.