

CNN on how Microsoft's kinect might change the way we interact with tv  - digamber_kamat
http://articles.cnn.com/2011-04-22/tech/xbox.kinect.column_1_kinect-apple-tv-microsoft-s-xbox?_s=PM:TECH

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Cherian_Abraham
Kinect is probably the best thing to come out of Microsoft in a while. If
Kinect had come out in the late 90s or even early 2000 (go along for
argument's sake) I doubt if Microsoft would have been this ready to embrace
community hacking of kinect. More likely we would have seen the heavy handed
actions that were synonymous of Microsoft that would have nipped these in the
bud and we would have never seen the likes of cool hacks that Kinect is now
famous for.

I still wonder how Kinect came out of a Microsoft led by Ballmer.

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bradleyland
By change, do they mean waiving my arms around all over the place, or are we
talking something more subtle? Here's the rub. A remote control is a means to
an end. It is a pathway for my cognitive decision to change channels or search
for content. Ideally, the remote should disappear in to the background. I
shouldn't think about the fact that I'm using it. I don't see how the Kinect
puts me any closer to that goal. What I've read so far -- and this may change
-- is that the Kinect works best when you're standing up. Even if it did work
well when sitting, I can use a remote by lifting my thumb. The Kinect would
require some sort of gesture that involves a lot more motion. The usual
gorilla arms arguments apply.

What would be far more useful is if home entertainment manufacturers
solidified a protocol for devices to talk to one another, so that we could
ditch all these remotes.

~~~
Hominem
I am flabbergasted there isn't more going on in this space. I am sitting mere
feet from a tv, I am holding an iPad, why do I have to pick up a remote.

As for Kinnect there are some obvious, and probably useless gestures you could
implement, such as point up or down for volume, but how about mute or pause
when you answer the phone, how about pause when you leave the room.

Give people an sdk to interact with the tv, maybe in the short term IR will
do, and things we can't even imagine will emerge.

