The folks over at WPCentral have suggested that Microsoft seems to be working on shrinking down the chip inside the Kinect for future use in Windows Phone devices. While cool if true, this news definitely raises a few questions.
Firstly, if you aren’t familiar with the Microsoft Kinect it’s basically a foot-long Xbox 360 peripheral with dual HD cameras that actually track your body’s movements in real time. The idea here is that users no longer need any form of controller to play; the movement of your body is all you need to interface.
Of course for a gaming console the implementation here is obvious. From party games to fitness programs to dance simulators/shooters/fighters and beyond the Kinect has potential that has still barely been tapped. The accuracy of the sensors reportedly even goes so far as to recognise your face and voice so you don’t have to go through the hassle of logging in.
However, when we take this technology and apply it to a mobile device we’re struggling to come up with uses.
Certainly better vocal control for a mobile device would always be handy and voice interfacing is part of the Kinect’s system. However, it’s really no better than anything Google, Apple or even Microsoft already have – or are planning to soon implement – on their handsets right now.
Facial recognition could certainly be great for security purposes. Instead of a pin number the phone could just easily recognise the face of the owner as effectively as a password, eliminating the possibility of bricking your phone if you forget your 4 digit pin.
However, when it comes to motion-controlled interfacing how much can you really do with a device that you hold a few inches from your face? When the touchscreen is right there it would seem more of a hassle to wave your hands around in the air wildly like you’re sprinkling magic fairy dust than to just tap the display with your fingers.
We’re not saying we don’t want Microsoft to give this a go, we’re just having difficulty imagining a functional method of implementation. But, hey, we just like gadgets; we don’t make them. If any of you have some interesting ideas on how a motion-control system for a handset would be cool then we’d love to hear what you have to say in the comments section down below.
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