PrimeSense’s OpenNI provides the best Kinect drivers yet, from someone who would know

We’ve been so wrapped up in Kinect hacks lately that we actually missed a Kinect non-hack that emerged last week. PrimeSense, who built the initial Project Natal reference hardware for Microsoft , has released its own open source drivers for the Kinect. PrimeSense is working with Willow Garage (best known for its open source ROS robot operating system ), and Side-Kick (a motion gaming startup) through a new OpenNI organization it set up, and the trio will be combining their powers for good. The OpenNI framework will cover low-level hardware support (drivers for actual cameras and other sensors), and high-level visual tracking (turning your body into a 3D avatar that kicks ass in a virtual world). This should be a boon to an already vibrant Kinect hacking community, and if the video above is any indication, we aren’t far from Kinect-level interaction and gameplay on our lowly PCs. [Thanks to everyone who sent this in] PrimeSense’s OpenNI provides the best Kinect drivers yet, from someone who would know originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 15 Dec 2010 13:14:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink

Posted by on December 15, 2010. Filed under News, Tech. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry