PrimeSense will put (most) of its voodoo into other machines.
Microsoft didn't lock up all the tech behind Kinect, meaning it's possible that the camera-controlled portion of the hands-free gadget to hit the market. And that's just dandy for creator PrimeSense, who is already striking deals to drop gesture controls into home theater PCs as well as TVs.
In a recent chat with Engadget, PrimeSense VP Adi Berenson revealed plans to put a rudimentary Kinect--called PrimeSense as well--into HTPCs by the end of the year. This is in addition to a deal the company signed with at least one cable company to have a Kinect-like box for TVs by summer 2011. Kinect tech embedded in TVs' innards is possibly coming, too, according to Berenson. So eat that, 3D.
Don't expect a Kinectimals-level experience. What won't be coming across, provided that people actually want hands-free in their TVs, are Microsoft's ideas. Engadget reports that tilt or voice recognition are no goes for manufacturers. And while I'd hate to be the party pooper, I don't mind this. A device that can understand what I'm saying is just one more gizmo I'll have to defeat on Judgment Day. (Sources tell me our hands will be full enough as is.)
The sell-able portion of the tech will be able track movement in 3D space by converting our world into a grid that a computer can interpret via a camera. At the end of the day, this'll make browsing media, whether TV-based or not, with hand swipes and wrist flicks possible. You will not, however, be able to fart to change a channel or be able to predict future murders. This former is theoretically reserved for Kinect, while the latter is a Tom Cruise-exclusive jam.
