Kinect May Only Support Two Active Players

UK retailer Play.com has published unofficial technical details for Kinect, leading many to believe that the controller-free device only allows for two active players. The specifications state that Kinect can track up to six bodies, but only two can be active for the device to function properly.

While the information has not been confirmed by Microsoft, Play.com has stated that the specifications for the device came directly from the manufacturer.

The following are the technical details for Kinect as listed by the retailer:

Sensor

• Colour and depth-sensing lenses
• Voice microphone array
• Tilt motor for sensor adjustment

Field of View

• Horizontal field of view: 57 degrees
• Vertical field of view: 43 degrees
• Physical tilt range: ± 27 degrees
• Depth sensor range: 1.2m – 3.5m

Data Streams

• 320×240 16-bit depth at 30FPS
• 640×480 32-bit colour at 30FPS
• 16-bit audio @ 16 kHz

Skeletal Tracking System

• Tracks up to 6 people, including 2 active players
• Tracks 20 joints per active player
• Ability to map active players to Xbox LIVE Avatars

Audio System

• Xbox LIVE party chat and in-game voice chat (requires Xbox LIVE Gold Membership)
• Echo cancellation system enhances voice input
• Speech recognition in multiple languages

Dubbed Kinect for Xbox 360, the controller-free game device is set to go on sale in November. The technology behind Natal is fairly simple, a TV-mounted camera/microphone bar to sense motion, sound, and movement. What's new and ground breaking is the tracking of 3D movement as well as 2D movement. The system is also able to scan users faces and sign them into Xbox live, as well as react to vocal tone and pitch, and process this data in real-time.

Source: neowin