Open source drivers in development.
Gizmodo reported over the weekend that Kinect for Xbox 360 has been hacked, or rather reverse-engineered, with the motion-sensing hardware operating on an ordinary PC.
Two videos, uploaded to YouTube by NUIGroup admin AlexP, show the compromised motion sensor in action, demonstrating the progress made in the few days since Kinect arrived at US retail. While some may might consider this is an elaborate fake, AlexP is something of a renowned reverse-engineer, having produced open source drivers for PlayStation Eye, so the chances are this is very much the real deal.
Alex’s first video demonstrates how the Kinect motor is controlled via PC while a second reveals the RGB and depth camera feeds running on PC. The latter video is especially intriguing as, according to Alex, the depth feed can be captured at 640×480 – just like the PrimeSense reference camera from which Kinect is adapted – while the official Kinect spec lists depth resolution at a quarter of that – 320×240.