Kinect for Windows v2 – JBS3D – Shyla test in Unity3D news - Just Beneath The Skin 3D

The release of the new Kinect for Windows v2 has opened a lot more doors then the previous version of the device, especially when it comes to being able to use the kinect for motion capture in video games. I spent a lot of time diving into the kinect world and trying to come to a conclusion if it was a good investment or not for making video game animations.

Info from the microsoft website:

The Kinect for Windows v2 sensor, when used with the free accompanying software developer kit (SDK), provides companies and developers with everything they need to create interactive applications that respond to voice, gesture and movement. Now, with the release of the SDK 2.0 public preview, you can start developing Windows Store apps with Kinect for Windows v2. When the final version of the SDK 2.0 releases to the public later this year, you will be able to deploy commercial solutions and offer your Kinect-enabled applications directly in the Windows Store, allowing you to reach more potential customers than ever, from businesses to consumers to other developers.

System Requirements
Operatingsystem
Windows 8, Windows 8.1, Windows Embedded Standard or Windows Embedded Standard 8.1
Processor
64-bit (x64), dual-core 2.66-Ghz or faster processor
Memory
2GB RAM
Graphicscard
DirectX11 compatible graphics card (see xbox.com/support/kinectforwindows for guidelines on graphics cards)
Port
USB 3 (see xbox.com/support/kinectforwindows for a list of tested USB 3 controllers)

I decided to give the new kinect a go and bought one without a further thought, well the device came yesterday so i popped in my Windows 8 disc and upgraded my OS cringing at the thought of what was about to happen. Well thank you windows 8 for deleting all of my programs and thus making me start from scratch instead of just upgrading the OS, i knew something like that was going to happen and not to mention everything ran very slowly at first.

I had to spend a few hours going through and figuring out how to navigate this new system and then make it work efficiently.Well what did I do? I turned off all of windows 8 live feeds and uninstalled a bunch of them, then pumped the power to HIGH PERFORMANCE just in case. After installing a few other programs to help micro manage programs and features i now have the system running quiet well, why it didn’t do so right out of the box I have not idea but i guess i was already expecting it to be very laggy/buggy. Windows 8, please go away.

I decided to record a testing i did today. It shows just a basic setup of the main character Shyla in a blank scene, the settings aren’t perfected yet and there are other assets/plugins to use but this is the basic free asset from the asset store.

I believe the controls need some adjusting and then it may work better but possibly going with either a better paid plugin or using a different program outside of Unity will work out better. Only time will tell as I dive deeper into the world of the Kinect and it’s possibilities.