Friday, June 03, 2011
Glen
According to their Twitter page, Microsoft are bringing Razorfish's DaVinci Kinect experience to E3. This is notable for a few reasons. Firstly it is, or was, more of a tech demo than a game. Secondly, why is Microsoft bringing open source PC Kinect hacks to E3?
The obvious explanation is that Microsoft may simply be giving more details on the official Kinect SDK, and DaVinci is one of the first apps ported to it from an open source environment. A more exiting prospect however, is the notion that Microsoft are ready to show off Kinect XNA apps playing on the Xbox 360, downloadable via a new app store.
Given the huge attention and interest many Kinect PC applications have received, it would be incredible for Xbox 360 owners to also have direct access to these smaller, homebrewed applications rather than only big and expensive retail products, and Xbox Live Arcade games.
We've previously speculated about the existence of a Kinect app store, with unofficially revealed Microsoft-produced titles such as Kinect Fun Lab, Kinect Googly Eyes and Kinect Me sounding like prime examples for launch apps. Razorfish's DaVinci was notable for its highly precise hand and grab tracking, offering a fun and polished physics sandbox. If we were to speculate further, DaVinci could have evolved into Kinect Fun Lab, with Microsoft publishing it as one of the first XNA Kinect 360 applications.
It could, of course, be the former simple explanation. But E3 is no fun without a bit of exciting speculation! We won't have to wait long to find out now. Check back for all the latest directly from E3, starting this coming Monday, and take a look at the DaVinci Kinect experience below.
The obvious explanation is that Microsoft may simply be giving more details on the official Kinect SDK, and DaVinci is one of the first apps ported to it from an open source environment. A more exiting prospect however, is the notion that Microsoft are ready to show off Kinect XNA apps playing on the Xbox 360, downloadable via a new app store.Given the huge attention and interest many Kinect PC applications have received, it would be incredible for Xbox 360 owners to also have direct access to these smaller, homebrewed applications rather than only big and expensive retail products, and Xbox Live Arcade games.
We've previously speculated about the existence of a Kinect app store, with unofficially revealed Microsoft-produced titles such as Kinect Fun Lab, Kinect Googly Eyes and Kinect Me sounding like prime examples for launch apps. Razorfish's DaVinci was notable for its highly precise hand and grab tracking, offering a fun and polished physics sandbox. If we were to speculate further, DaVinci could have evolved into Kinect Fun Lab, with Microsoft publishing it as one of the first XNA Kinect 360 applications.
It could, of course, be the former simple explanation. But E3 is no fun without a bit of exciting speculation! We won't have to wait long to find out now. Check back for all the latest directly from E3, starting this coming Monday, and take a look at the DaVinci Kinect experience below.
