Speculative Specifications Suggest Two-Player Kinect Cap

[Andy Chalk]

Speculative Specifications Suggest Two-Player Kinect Cap

Speculative specifications for Microsoft's Kinect [http://www.amazon.com/Kinect-Xbox-360/dp/B002BSA298/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=videogames&qid=1277912816&sr=8-1] have been released by a U.K. retailer, suggesting that the device will be limited to a maximum of two "active players" at a time.

E3 has Play.com [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/101613-E3-2010-Playing-With-Myself-Impressions-of-Kinect] claims are the specs, with the caveat that the information "is based on specifications supplied by manufacturers and should be used for guidance only."

And with that out of the way, let's get to it. The Kinect spec-specs are as follows:

Sensor
Colour and depth-sensing lenses
Voice microphone array
Tilt motor for sensor adjustment
Fully compatible with existing Xbox 360 consoles

Field of View
Horizontal field of view: 57 degrees
Vertical field of view: 43 degrees
Physical tilt range: ± 27 degrees
Depth sensor range: 1.2m - 3.5m

Data Streams
320x240 16-bit depth @ 30 frames/sec
640x480 32-bit colour@ 30 frames/sec
16-bit audio @ 16 kHz

Skeletal Tracking System
Tracks up to 6 people, including 2 active players
Tracks 20 joints per active player
Ability to map active players to LIVE Avatars

Audio System
LIVE party chat and in-game voice chat (requires Xbox LIVE Gold Membership)
Echo cancellation system enhances voice input
Speech recognition in multiple languages

Of particular interest is the fact that Kinect will apparently only track two "active players" at a time. Microsoft has never specified how many people the device could support simultaneously but in a June 2009 interview with Eurogamer [http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/e3-post-natal-discussion-interview], Project Director Alex Kipman implied it could do more, saying, "We can track up to four players in the same way we track four controllers," he said. "Each individual player will be able to choose - do I want to bind with a controller, or do I want to bind with my body, or do I want to bind with both?"

I'm not really sure what to think about it. A two-player maximum sounds a bit limiting for a device that, out of the gate at least, will likely be positioned as primarily for social, party gaming, but four people playing a movement-based videogame while crammed in front of a single screen could get chaotic in a hurry. Then again, that might be part of the fun.

Regardless, like the $149 price point [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/101618-Kinect-Pricing-Not-Confirmed-After-All], these specs didn't come straight from the Microsoft mouth and thus aren't official, so take it for what it's worth - and stay tuned.

via: GamesIndustry [http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/specs-suggest-kinect-is-two-player-only]


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[Kmadden2004]

Y'know, the more I hear about the Kinect, the more I think Microsoft have gone and shot themselves in the foot.

But, hey, I'm willing to be proven wrong...

 

[Dioxide20]

Two players shouldn't be that bad. Imagine having four people crammed into the Kinects sensor range and having them all flailing their arms around, funny, but not to safe.

 

[Meggiepants]

This doesn't surprise me. Until the camera they are using becomes a great deal more sophisticated, I would find it hard to believe it could capture the movement of more than one person all that accurately.

I'd be willing to bet even two player is a little iffy.

 

[Jared]

Intresting...It seems to sum up what I pretty much expected in terms of sepcs but...thats only speculative for now

 

[sephiroth1991]

Tracks up to 6 people, including 2 active players

What does that mean, shouldn't all the people usin it be active.

 

[Xersues]

I never really thought about it before. But compared to the Move and the Wiimote, the Kinect is kind of fail if you have people that need to move behind you. Like oh say, the camera is pointed at the kitchen and some one is making dinner.

I'm sure it can tell by lighting and whatnot, but the error margin on camera technology is still pretty high.

Think about your own living rooms, think about thousands of layouts, and then figure out how many of them have possible activity in the background.

Cats jumping on the back of couches and running by, a dog trying to play with you, people doing whatever they need to in the background.

Mirrors, fans, etc.

I'm sure a lot of that is taken care of by the dual cameras, but it can only do so much. The masses will find the short falls. I can only imagine the bug reports that come in on this thing and the patches that go out.

 

[StriderShinryu]

Not that it sounded great to begin with, but this Tech seems even less and less impressive as more information comes out. Oh well, it will still be cheaper than fully equipping yourself with a set of Move gear.. though not by nearly as much anymore.

 

[Baby Tea]

I never really thought about it before. But compared to the Move and the Wiimote, the Kinect is kind of fail if you have people that need to move behind you. Like oh say, the camera is pointed at the kitchen and some one is making dinner.

I'm sure it can tell by lighting and whatnot, but the error margin on camera technology is still pretty high.

Think about your own living rooms, think about thousands of layouts, and then figure out how many of them have possible activity in the background.

I think that's why it says 'track up to 6, including 2 active players'. So it can recognize 4 other people milling around directly behind you and not screw up. And I'm sure, since the cameras can sense a depth of field, there is a range limit to where it stops detecting people.

Keep in mind, this thing was put on for demoing at E3, with people milling around behind the play testers and journalists and it worked fine. Every demo video I saw of people using it showed it working fine, despite them being on the trade floor. I don't think background visual 'noise' is going to be a problem.

I'm still looking forward to Kinect!

 

[Onyx Oblivion]

I wouldn't expect it to read 4...That'd be a giant jumble of limbs.

 

[poiuppx]

So... cutting out the anciliary stuff, this basically means 'All Kinect games will max at two players'. Anyone else find that a little hyper-limiting for a control system intended for casual and family-friendly titles? Doesn't sound like you can really make good use of it, for example, as a party platform like one could with the Wii.

 

[Gmano]

Tracks up to 6 people, including 2 active players

What does that mean, shouldn't all the people usin it be active.

I figure it will be like wii bowling (for example) where you would have only one or 2 "active" players at a time, the rest will take turns.

Frankly, fitting 4 people in front of 1 tv would be incredibly challenging. I've seen too many wii tennis blackeyes to try it again.