Kinect for Windows sensor now in India for Rs. 19,990

Microsoft Corporation has announced the availability of Kinect for Windows sensor and Software Development Kit (SDK) in India. Kinect for Windows is based on Microsoft’s Natural User Interface and the launch brings Indian developers an opportunity to explore and tinker with the new technology. The Kinect for Windows sensor is available at Rs. 19,990. Consumers can place an order with a reseller or call the sales office for their zone. The SDK can be downloaded for free from here.

Kinect for Windows in India now

Commenting on the rollout of Kinect for Windows, Anshu Mor, Business Group Lead – Interactive Entertainment Business, Microsoft Corporation (India) Pvt. Ltd said, “The incredible amount of innovation on Kinect for Xbox 360 this past year shows the potential for Kinect as a platform for developers and businesses to experiment, explore and create new offerings. Furthermore, this is just the beginning. This proliferation of great new content for Kinect, which we call the Kinect Effect, will expand even further with our commercial release of Kinect for Windows. We are excited around the new possibilities that Kinect will enable on the Windows platform, and the many different ways each Kinect for Windows based scenario could enrich lives and make using technology more natural for everyone”.

Developers and businesses can take advantage of several innovation features such as improved skeletal tracking, face tracking, enhanced speech, and seated mode tracking to create new apps for users. Across the world, artists, entertainers, retailers, educators and physical therapists are all exploring the Kinect for Windows. For example, Kinect apps on Xbox 360 are helping the visually challenged by creating a belt to help them navigate better, by making the classroom experience truly innovative, by spreading a social message to the children, and by creating tools for the physically challenged for better use of  the computer and Internet. These are just a few of the kinds of inventions Indian entrepreneurs and students have created using Kinect technology in recent months.

Microsoft has been toying around with the various aspects of Kinect and its umpteen abilities. The Garage Science Fair in India showcased about 60 innovations designed by the members of Microsoft’s Development Centre (MSIDC). At this event, some employees launched prototypes of a pair of spectacles, called Kinectacles to help the visually challenged, and also Kinect Bridge, which will assist the speech impaired to communicate with others with the Kinect motion sensor used in its Xbox gaming device. The prototype of Kinectacles was designed by a team comprising Rishabh Verma, Atul Sharma and Aditi Goswami. The trio aim at designing spectacles with a Kinect PCB (printed circuit board) mounted with an audio output device to assist the visually impaired to move around effortlessly indoors as well as outdoors. Moreover, the event also saw a software for Windows 7 phone called My Obstetrics, which assists pregnant women in keeping track of the different stages during their journey to motherhood. It monitors the blood pressure and weight throughout the nine months.