While Kinect has, to date, been leveraged as an interface for video games, it’s not hard to imagine its uses outside the realm of an Xbox 360.
Enthusiasts ripped apart the Kinect soon after launch, leading to a steady release of great Kinect hackery videos, and Microsoft will expand the device’s official usefulness to outside games early next year with the launch of the “Kinect for Windows commercial program.”
200 businesses--including Toyota, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt and Razorfish--have reportedly signed up for a Kinect pilot program, gaining early access to the updated software development kit.
If you’re interested in just messing around with the official tools, however, the SDK is already available.