A while ago we made R is for Robots – a coloring book that explores robots, robot makers, and making robot friends. The next ADABOX (008) is all about building your own robots! Sign up now – we’re shipping late June/early July!

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Today’s letter is K for Kinect!

Wikipedia – Kinect (codenamed Project Natal during development) is a line of motion sensing input devices that was produced by Microsoft for Xbox 360 and Xbox One video game consoles and Microsoft Windows PCs. Based around a webcam-style add-on peripheral, it enables users to control and interact with their console/computer without the need for a game controller, through a natural user interface using gestures and spoken commands.[12]

The first-generation Kinect for Xbox 360 was introduced in November 2010 in an attempt to broaden console’s audience beyond its typical gamer base.[13] Microsoft released a beta version of the Kinect software development kit for Windows 7 applications on June 16, 2011, initially supporting the Kinect for Xbox 360 hardware connected to a PC for non-commercial applications.[14][15][16] This SDK was meant to allow developers to write Kinect apps in C++/CLI, C#, or Visual Basic .NET.[17][18]

A similar hardware version Kinect for Windows was released on February 1, 2012. The 1.0 version of the Windows SDK, allowing commercial applications, was released with and required the Kinect for Windows hardware.[6]

Kinect for Xbox One, a new version with significantly expanded hardware capabilities, was released with the Xbox One platform starting in 2013.[19] The corresponding Kinect for Windows v2 hardware was released in 2014, along with a supporting SDK.[20] The 2.0 version of the Windows SDK supported the Kinect for Windows v2 as well as the Kinect for Xbox One hardware.

AdaBox 008 – MAKE ROBOT FRIEND! (video).