Well, it finally happened, Microsoft tossed their hat into the ring and released Kinect into the waiting masses of people who are anxious to see how the hell it will fair against Sony’s Move and Nintendo’s Wii. Already there have been reviews both scathing and lauding the motion sensing system along with one idiot who has destroyed their television. While I’ll be the first to contend that motion control is the future and there will come a day where physical gamepads will become nothing more that antiquated reminders of the past – it does go without saying that the system as it stands so far is pretty cool. And despite the unyielding fact that there are still a few kinks to work out of the system, the underlying fundamental purpose is a good entry for Microsoft against competing systems. But, as always, there are going to be people who imagine what else something could do and today, that just so happens to be me. So, sit back and get ready for a few unintended uses of Microsoft’s latest toy.
10. Security Camera: The reason none of us can ever have nice things is because people are perpetually incapable of keeping their hands to themselves – it’s just a fact of life whether you have a nosy sibling, mother, spouse, significant other or pet. When you least suspect it will happen, something just seems to up and walk away from where you left it or just break – leaving you to clean up the mess. With Kinect however, those days could long be forgotten by rigging it up to act as a makeshift security camera. Never again will you have to wonder where exactly your copy of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue has gone off to because you’ll know for a fact that your little brother snuck into your room to take it – and even better is that you’ll have the footage to confront him. That’s right, a few slight modifications and your Kinect becomes the latest and greatest weapon in the war against people invading your personal space. You’ll wonder how you ever trusted the people you live with in the first place.
9. Stellar Cartographer: Believe it or not, there are some pretty awesome things just outside your bedroom window, particularly if you just remember to take a few minutes a look up during the evening hours of the day. Granted, being the geek I am, I’ve always found some astronomy to be pretty awesome. Not because it makes me feel like a tiny little speck when compared to the vast incredible universe that lies not just beyond our solar system, but outstretching from our galaxy into the infinite universe that exists without boundaries. Having an existential crisis yet? No? Good. Stellar Cartography is essentially the mapping of stars in the most basic terminology possible and with a few alterations; Kinect could very well be modified to perform such a task – scanning the night sky for stars and any relative changes. After all, you could be the one to discover a giant heavenly body bearing down on our planet capable of exterminating all life. Sure, you’ll only be able to enjoy your fame for so long, but everyone has their fifteen minutes, right?
8. Webcam: We’ve already seen that Kinect can function in the same way that it’s predecessor, the vision cam, was capable of. And while this just goes to show you that Microsoft was thinking a bit ahead of the curve on Kinect, packing in a simple function that a previous product was able to perform, I bet they haven’t realized the potential they’ve put in the hands of their users. No, I’m not talking about how playing a game of Uno on Xbox Live Arcade is on par with trolling chatroulette for fifteen minutes, in which time you’ll usually see more junk than in a hoarders boarded up home. I’m talking about offering the capabilities to produce full-fledged video content from the comfort of your couch. Want to do a video review of how Fable III failed to live up to your expectations and share it with your friends via XBL, I have a feeling one day Microsoft just might allow that. And while I doubt Xbox Live will ever be capable of competing with Youtube, this just serves to remind us all of the utmost potential the Xbox 360 and Live have to serve as an all-around platform.
This feature top 10 list continues on the next page, please click below to see our next couple uses for the Microsoft Kinect, other than gaming.
