Open source Kinect drivers for PC arrive, $3,000 bounty won

[Emil]

The NUI Group posted its Kinect motion controller hacking results first, and is now working on an SDK and Windows drivers to enable all the capabilities of the peripheral. That will all be released as open source once the group's $10,000 donation fund is filled up.

In the meantime, hacker Hector Martin has coded his own drivers (three hours after the European launch of the Kinect) and has released his results and code over on Marcansoft. He's simply displaying the pulled data from the IR and RGB cameras, but it still means you can plug your Kinect into your PC and have some fun (assuming you understand the raw code). Bill gates would be proud. The video below shows Martin's work, which he pulled off without even owning an Xbox 360:

Martin has won $3,000 for being the first person to successfully create the open source drivers. Last week, open source hardware developer Adafruit Industries offered $1,000 to the first person or team to complete the task, and after Microsoft said it did not "condone the modification of its products," Adafruit upped the bounty to $2,000, and later to $3,000.

"Hector has decided to invest this bounty into hacking tools and devices for a group of people he works with closely (e.g. iPhone Dev Team members, Wii hacker team Team Twiizers, and a few others)," the company said in a statement. "They don't have much expendable income to buy tools and devices to hack, and sometimes this hobby can be a bit expensive, this will be a good investment that will allow them to hack more and newer devices."

Microsoft has dismissed all these achievements as "hacks" and is instead rightfully saying that these are merely drivers. That being said, the progress is phenomenal considering for how little time the Kinect has been available for.

Permalink to story.

https://www.techspot.com/news/41091-open-source-kinect-drivers-for-pc-arrive-3000-bounty-won.html

 

[Puiu]

as long as microsoft doesn't sue them like apple does then by all means go for it! i still don't understand why a PC version of kinect or something similar wasn't released by them. there is meaning in being first.

 

[Se7enVII]

If these drivers improve and we see open-source frameworks to interact w/ Kinect I'm definitely going to have to get one.

 

[treetops]

Crazy I bought a xbox 360 a few months ago just for connect I wonder how long its gonna take before I can use kinect on pc ^^

 

[skitzo_zac]

Nice work getting the drivers so soon.

Will be interesting to see what applications and stuff people can make for the Kinect running on a PC.

 

[TwiztidSef]

Nice, they did some pretty crazy things with the Wii hardware. Can't wait to see what this brings. Weird thing is, these hacking teams may be able to get PS3 hardware working with Xbox hardware at this rate.

 

[Demons]

A Kinect for your PC eh? Well, I thought Microsoft would get around to it eventually but it's nice to see someone take matters into their own hands. If I had a Kintect, I would try it out for sure!

 

[Ranger12]

Yeah I have a feeling Microsoft not going to start suing anybody and everybody. It's really not good PR and Microsoft can afford that right now.

 

[Archean]

That is pretty cool, I think MS should be happier, if some practical use of Kinect on PC can be found, after all they will be making more money.

 

[gwailo247]

I would expect MS to release a PC version of the Kinect, something you'd mount to the top of your monitor. Not necessarily for gaming, but more as an input/navigation device.

If done right you'd get a touch screen effect without actually touching the monitor.

 

[DarkProjectWrks]

What I'd love it to do on pc, is motion capture. For people like myself, who can't afford costly motion capture systems, this would be ideal, and would be something we'd happily shell out for as a cheaper alternative. It's been something I've been hoping for, ever since Bill Gates said about it being used on pc at E3'09.

 

[Guest]

You people really need to understand something. These people haven't hacked Kinect, and they're not going to. They'll never be able to make Kinect work on PC like it does on 360, because Kinect is a combination of the software in the machine, and the CPU in the 360. You have to have both. You're not going to see a situation where the system can be controlled on a PC like it can on the 360. You certainly won't be able to play games, because Microsoft won't allow it.

All they're doing here is capturing images from the cameras by writing some drivers. But you can't interact with it in the way it was designed.

I suspect Microsoft will include Kinect features in Windows 8 and future operating systems, and make it available at some point in the future.

 

[Johny47]

Microsoft should hire this guy, fair play =P

I don't know why kinect isn't on PC aswell as 360 because most of the 360's so called 'exclusives'(haha yeah right =/) are also on PC so I think it would be a good idea, that's IF PC gamers would get it on it.

 

[Vrmithrax]

Johny47 said:
I don't know why kinect isn't on PC aswell as 360 because most of the 360's so called 'exclusives'(haha yeah right =/) are also on PC so I think it would be a good idea, that's IF PC gamers would get it on it.

How many people do you know that have a PC setup with huge screens and at least 6' of open space in front of the desk to use something like the Kinect? (I know, this is probably a loaded question, since the readers of Techspot probably have an unusually high ratio of familiarity with those types of setups). But, the reason Kinect (in its current iteration) isn't on the PC is that it's an economic dead-end. The Kinect is specifically designed for an application that does not mesh well with traditional PC setups. Fact is, the PC customer base that could actually use the current Kinect product is minuscule compared to the Xbox customer base. Even with an HTPC setup (which would technically be the best suited to work with a Kinect), odds are that the HTPC is very graphically underpowered for things like games.

I have no doubt that MS will have a PC variant of the Kinect for gesture interfacing. But it would have to be a different product, with a different field of view, focal point, and driving program.

 

[Hargert]

I would just want a app for a good HTPC to use motion and voice commands to control it. That is where I see this going in the long run and to give people the system that Microsoft showed that the kinect was going to be but is not.

 

[madboyv1]

I could see MS buying/"borrowing" the drivers and integrating them into windows when MS eventually makes an end user version of the Kinect for windows.

 

[bioflex]

i always thought of the possibility of microsoft bringing kinect to the pc platform.....lets just say they got beat to it by hackers......lol......any way, lets see how useful this device can be.

 

[vangrat]

Other than gaming, I am trying to see what use I could have for this. Not that I am complaining mind you. Maybe, you could enable tablet mode your pc, then use the kinect, combined with programmed motions, to operate your OS. Thus having something similar to Minority Report. Although an updated GUI for Windows may make this even more useful...

 

[sMILEY4ever]

This guy must be pretty damn good geek.

 

[Hargert]

Yes it is a good job to get drivers built so quickly and I would not worry about MS having to use his. I am sure they already have drivers to the device from when they developed it. In fact they have a version that is good enough to read sign language and detect hands and finger positions but it was cut back due to pricing.

 

[Leeky]

That is pretty cool, I think MS should be happier, if some practical use of Kinect on PC can be found, after all they will be making more money.

That's my thoughts, either way its win win financially for Microsoft... Especially when the donations that enable it to happen in the first place aren't even going from there pockets.

Though it will be interesting to see Microsoft's reaction.

 

[slh28]

If only all Sony/MS/Nintendo/PC peripherals were cross-compatible...

There's an Xbox controller for the PC so why not make this compatible for a PC as well?

 

[pinya]

If only all Sony/MS/Nintendo/PC peripherals were cross-compatible...

There's an Xbox controller for the PC so why not make this compatible for a PC as well?

ditto....

since they are bluetooth.... why not right?

 

[miska_man]

Can you patent drivers I wonder? If so, this guy should do so TOMORROW just in case Microsoft ever does want to take the Kinect over to the PC. That way they would have to pay him for use of the drivers..

 

[Guest]

Lucky for the open source community and PC enthusiast that Apple did not get its hands on Kinect. If MS plays its cards right the knowledge and entrepreneur spirit of the internet will make Kinect larger than life in more ways then MS could ever imagine. On the Flip side if Apple was the Kinect owner Steve Jobs would be pulling out his hair and sending out his police / attorney goons to arrest the hackers and sue the bounty payers.