This week it was announced that Microsoft has ceased production of its Kinect device. The Kinect is a watershed depth camera and voice recognition microphone, which was originally developed by Microsoft for the Xbox 360.
The original Kinect, which was released on the Xbox 360, was initially a success – selling well over 35 million units. After that Microsoft saw fit to bundle every Xbox One console with a Kinect device. Launched in 2010 with a $500 million marketing campaign, the Kinect painted a room in a disco ball of invisible, infrared dots, mapping it in 3D space and allowing unprecedented tracking of the human body. Its speak-to-control technology was copied by Apple, with the creation of Siri, as well as the imitation of the 3-D tracking system copied by Google. However, the Kinect was also the main reason for the console’s $500 price.
Microsoft will eventually release lower-priced consoles without the Kinect in the Xbox One S and Xbox One X. Now that their focus is off of the Kinect device, the Kinect team of specialists has gone on to build other technologies for Microsoft, including the Cortana voice assistant, the Windows Hello biometric facial ID system, and a context – aware user interface for the future that Microsoft is calling Gaze, Gesture and Voice (GGV).
While Microsoft’s decision to cease production of the Kinect device was one based on monetary reasons, people who rely on the device for other reasons, such as experimental art and creating UI prototypes are disappointed.
