Sensory Technology Guided by Voice or Gestures

A Whole New Technology for A Whole New World

The use of sensory technology as been in play for years in various aspects of human application but not until recently did this technology got introduced into gaming and TV. It pretty much started with Nintendo Wii, now Xbox One is taking the use of sensory technology to a whole new level with the Kinect, a short sensor bar that ships with the console. Now in its second version, the Kinect allows users to interact with the console through the system's motion-detection technology, or through voice commands.

So far, consumers seem interested: Microsoft said it sold more than three million Xbox Ones, which retail for $500, last year. Let's see what other interesting uses this aspect of sensory technology will be put to in the coming years, but while we wait, let's keep kicking the games and having fun.

Below, a diagram of the latest Kinect.

Measuring Depth

Kinect uses a system called time-of-flight to measure depth. Infrared illuminators bathe a room with light millions of times per second. Light reflecting off objects is gathered by the infrared camera and focused on the sensor. The distance is measured by calculating the time it takes light to go out to the object and back.

Different ways of looking at a figureKinect can pick out a human figure from the background and also apply several layers to it, each showing different information about how human bodies move.

Controlling with hand gesturesUsing the infrared camera, Kinect allows the Xbox One to be controlled by a number of hand gestures, among them

By raising your hand and showing your palm, you can activate the cursor. Dropping your hand makes it disappear.

In some applications, closing your hand can be used to “grip” the screen for horizontal and vertical scrolling.

Moving a closed hand forward and back can also be used to zoom in and out.

Voice Control

With Kinect voice recognition, you can control and interact with your Xbox One console by using voice commands. The Kinect recognizes quite a number of voice call control that are pre-installed in the device, some of this includes:

Xbox Call --- This starts the skype application to initate a skype call

Xbox --- A list of available commands appears on the screen. Then, say any of the commands that appear in the list. For example, say “Bing” to search using Bing.

Xbox, Select --- Some features appear in green text. This lets you say just that word. For example, if you say “Xbox, Select” while you’re in Xbox Video, you can just say “Movies Store”.  

Time to go scream at some Xbox One boxes out there.. Have fun!