At SRT, we constantly strive not to follow, but to be in front of technology trends. In our effort become leaders in new Kinect technology we created two children’s games: Hover Bugz and Blood Drive.
In the process of creating these games we answered many questions about new user interface paradigms like:
How quickly can people learn to control computers using their hands and other large scale-motions?
Can children learn those new paradigms quickly as well?
How do common user interface activities change when using hand movements for manipulation? How much bigger do buttons need to be? What motions should be used instead of a push button? How should selection, scrolling, and other common activities be performed?
This project also worked as a research project to understand how capable the Kinect is for different kinds of applications.
Could the Kinect be used to measure motion accurately enough for medical and physical therapy applications?
What are the performance characteristics for collecting and processing motion data using the Kinect?
How do other people in field effect motion capture and processing?
What can be done to minimize those ill effects?
We learned that not only do kids (and adults!) love Kinect technology and the novel experience of controlling a game with hand motions, but we learned about Kinect’s capabilities. We learned that the Kinect can capture and process motion data quickly enough for most medical and physical therapy applications. It could even be used for sports performance applications. We learned several techniques for minimizing the effects of multiple people moving into and out of the frame. Finally, we learned several successful ways to create user experiences that can be used for direct manipulation and large – scale interaction for many applications.
The research and experience we have with Kinect technology could be utilized not just within the gaming space, but within health care, education, retail, and many more.