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Kinect debuted as an Xbox 360 accessory for motion detection so you can control games with your hands or your body. Although it was initially a powerful console accessory, its bundle and lack of games with Xbox One have forced Microsoft to rethink its entire Kinect approach. Microsoft is now consolidating all of its impressive work with Kinect into a miniature sensor that it hopes to see adopted and used by businesses.
Nicknamed the Azure Kinect Development Kit (DK), the PC device includes the latest Microsoft artificial intelligence sensors, such as the depth-of-flight sensor in the HoloLens 2, and a set of 7 microphones for viewing by computer and speech. It also includes a 12 megapixel RGB camera and a 1 megapixel depth camera. Developers were already using Kinect sensors for research, applications and many other uses, and this smaller sensor should allow Kinect to work even harder.
The big boost from Microsoft is that Kinect will be powered by the power of the cloud and used for AI purposes. This will allow developers to use less energy in potential applications and to use AI on deep images to deploy artificial intelligence algorithms on smaller networks. . The sensor itself can be used alone or in combination with other Azure Kinect sensors to create a 3D map of a room.
The cloud-based Kinect sensor is in its infancy, but Microsoft already has a partner that uses it in the healthcare industry. Ocuvera uses the Azure Kinect sensor to prevent patients from falling into hospitals. With a combination of AI algorithms, the sensor can determine if a patient is about to fall and alert a nurse before the fall.
Microsoft offers Azure Kinect DK today for pre-order priced at 399 USD. It will initially be available in the United States and China.
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