Microsoft Kinect SDK officially released

We previously wrote about Microsoft releasing the official Kinect SDK today, and it looks like the rumors were spot on. Microsoft has released the beta version of the official Kinect SDK on the Microsoft Research website today. Designed for non-commercial use only, the Kinect SDK is targeted at researchers, academics and hobbyists (the folks who have been coming up with all sorts of DIY Kinect projects all this while). These SDK will allow Kinect developers to create tools and discover new ways to utilize Microsoft’s gaming motion controller. The Kinect SDK only runs on Windows 7 PCs, and supports C++, C# or Visual Basic development via Visual Studio 2010. It is developed by Microsoft Research and the Interactive Entertainment Business unit. Using the SDK, developers will have access to raw sensor streams from the cameras and microphones, skeletal tracking capabilities, low-level programming interfaces, and Microsoft’s speech API.

Also provided are 100 pages of documentation, reusable code samples and code walkthroughs – basically everything a developer with minimal knowledge of the Kinect would need to get started. Interested folks can head over to the Microsoft Research website to download the SDK. And since this is a beta, users are also encouraged to provide feedback on how to improve the SDK as well as report any bugs they encounter.

George Wong
Categories: Gaming
Tags: Kinect, Microsoft, official, release, sdk, Xbox 360