Kinect

Microsoft Kinect can be used as an input device in TouchDesigner.

Kinect is a motion sensor input device from Microsoft. The device includes an infrared depth sensing camera, a RGB color camera, and a microphone array for audio capture. The Microsoft Kinect SDK enables features such as skeleton tracking and voice recognition.

The Kinect was originally released for Microsoft's Xbox360 gaming console in 2010. On Feb 1 2012, Microsoft released Kinect for Windows which included a Kinect SDK which works exclusively with new Kinect hardware for Windows operating systems.

Kinect Support in TouchDesigner

TouchDesigner has built-in support for Kinect using Microsoft's official Kinect for Windows SDK. As such, only Kinect for Windows hardware is supported by TouchDesigner's built-in Kinect operators. (See Tips below for information on Xbox 360 Kinect sensors).

Requirements

• Kinect for Windows hardware device (not compatible with Kinect for Xbox360 devices).
• Windows 7
• Install the Kinect Runtime 1.0.

Ways to interface with Kinect in TouchDesigner

• Depth camera - Kinect TOP
• RGB camera - Kinect TOP
• Skeleton Point Tracking - Kinect CHOP
• Microphone Array Audio Capture - Audio In CHOP
• To control the tilt of the camera, use the kinecttilt Command.

Tips for Working with Kinect Sensors

• Always connect the AC power supply that comes with the Kinect sensor. The green LED will light up under USB power, however the sensor will not function correctly unless the AC power supply is also connected.
• If using multiple Kinects, each Kinect sensor must be connected to its own USB controller. On some computers multiple USB ports will be on the same USB controller, this will cause problems if two Kinects are sharing that same controller. Refer to your computer's Device Manager to inspect which ports belong to each USB controller.
• If you require USB extenders, we have successfully used these extenders with Kinect sensors and other USB cameras. 25M USB Active Extenders Note that these extenders do not work if you connect two together.
• Although not officially supported, we have discovered that by installing the Kinect for Windows SDK 1.0, Kinect sensors for the Xbox360 will also work. This may change at any time as it is not officially supported by Microsoft.
• For additional support and troubleshooting refer to the Kinect Support Community.

Kinect Example Files

File:Kinect.tox - This file uses the depth camera, color camera, and skeletal tracking features of Kinect.