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back to article Kinect 2 said to read lips, sense mood

The next version of Microsoft’s Kinect motion-sensing platform is reportedly so advanced that it will be able to read your lips and sense your mood. According to Eurogamer, a member of the Kinect development team claims that the next version of Kinect will be able to read lips to interpret what you are saying, as well as take …

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  1. Sphinx86

    Hmmmm.

    While I know this type of ability is possible, I'm not sure that its really going to be avialable in the next Kinect. I'm wondering whether this is a fake marketing leak to create more hype about getting on board with the current model.

    I'm prepared to be wrong.... just wont get my hopes up

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    1. Thomas 18
      Reply Icon

      Wouldn't this be more likely to make you hold off purchasing till the awesome new sensor came along?

      I imagine Microsoft had great plans for kinect that were brought down to earth when the manufacturing costs were looked at, this story is probably not that wild or that far from what they originally planned for Kinectt 1.

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      1. Anonymous Coward
        Reply Icon
        Anonymous Coward

        Funny story

        The guy who developed EyeToy for Sony (which is a POS based on the most trivial motion detection algorithms) also developed the "Z-Cam" which does, essentially, exactly what Kinect does.

        And *they* looked at manufacturing costs, and decided - get this - no-one is ever going to pay upwards of $100 for a piece of hardware like that.

        Typical Sony fail.

        I doubt Kinect 1 was ever going to be higher-res though. It is like you say a cost issue, but ballpark cost estimates can be made on day 1 of a project based on web searches or general knowledge, so the CPU and camera were always going to be that level of quality.

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    2. NightFox
      Reply Icon

      At least they can save some money on publicity by just rolling out the Project Natal demo again as a taste of what Kinect 2 will be capable of. Or maybe Kinect 3...

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    3. Fred Flintstone Gold badge
      Reply Icon

      Hell no

      You better get your fears up rather than hope. A *microsoft* device which is permanently under power in your living room reading your lips and mood. And maybe has a mike. And maybe is online.

      "No need to bug the place, gov, he's got an Xbox."

      Not in a million years.

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      1. NightFox
        Reply Icon
        Black Helicopters

        So you won't be buying one of those new fangled telephones then?

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  2. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Still wondering

    ... if it will measure the size of my weener on a daily basis. If too small will it automatically redirect me to a Viagra store.

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    1. Fred Flintstone Gold badge
      Reply Icon

      Congratulations

      You have just given an entirely new meaning to "blue screen"..

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  3. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    whoops

    someones about to lose their job

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  4. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Must be a different version of Kinect that I've seen. The one I tried had trouble even seeing my arm. So unless you have lips the size of my arms...

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    1. CD001
      Reply Icon

      It's called the "Mick Jagger" limited edition Kinect ...

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  5. kain preacher
    Holmes

    Hey MS is planing to patent a way to monitor all actions of employees. This is just the next step.

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  7. Herby

    The TV commercial I just saw

    Only said something about "responding to your voice", and not much else. I believe that "reading lips" is a bit out of the question. Of course, given technology, I don't know what to expect, I just don't expect it from Microsoft.

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  8. Anonymous Coward
    Terminator

    "Open the DVD-tray door HAL...."

    "I could see your lips move..."

    Its coming.

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    1. Anonymous Coward
      Reply Icon
      Coat

      The inevitable RRoD already looks like the HAL interface.

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  9. auburnman
    Meh

    Regional variation

    If this rolls out I'd put money on the facial recognition / lip reading having a Western / USA bias a la the recent problems with Siri. Only question is which nation will be the one that Kinect thinks is constantly angry/upset? (Reg hacks*: Pretype your headlines now)

    Icon is a smiley face, you're just reading it wrong.

    * in the term of endearment rather than pejorative sense (like boffin)

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    1. Anonymous Coward
      Reply Icon
      Anonymous Coward

      Voice recognition

      Same problem with voice recognition. Unless you have a New England / Queens English accent, it can't pick up regional variations.

      Try the new iPhone voice recognition nonsense with a Glaswegian voice "Am a gonnae need an umbrella?" or a Belfast voice "Wull a need an umbralla the night?" or a Geordie voice "Ganna need a brolly the neet pet?"

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  10. Citizen Kaned

    surely...

    this is just the next step for the move to xbox 720 or whatever that is rumoured to get released next year?

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  11. Mehh
    Thumb Up

    Reading lips?

    In that case, I do so hope MS design the Kinect 2 camera to be a silver ring, holding an over-sized dark lens, with a penetrating red light in the centre.

    You know the type I mean.

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  12. Gadget Rage is BAD
    Stop

    Kinect 1

    How about they actually release some decent software to go with the millions of Kinect 1s they've sold before bothering with an updated version??

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    1. Anonymous Coward
      Reply Icon
      Anonymous Coward

      Kinect 1

      That won't happen because it's a useless piece of shit.

      The only reason they are selling this crap to people again is because they know people will believe the mega hype (lies, lies lies) and buy it again.

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  13. xboxer
    Thumb Down

    new tech for the next kinect is all good and fine but what about the thousands of people that have bought and payed for the current one and don't use them because they don't have any good games for them that aren't fitness, sports or dance related, come on MS work on what you have already before bringing out something basically the same but with a bit more tech in it.

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  14. Antony Shepherd
    WTF?

    So, a computer that can lip-read and detect mood. Did we learn nothing from 2001?

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  15. Lloyd
    Meh

    Sense your mood?

    I might have to get one to use on my wife, it's like living with a hormonally imbalanced rhino.

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  16. Anonymous Coward
    Terminator

    Hello Dave....

    ...You look a bit down today.

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  17. FunkyEric
    Joke

    maybe.....

    You could use it to check your wifes mood before you come home from work?

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  18. PhilBack

    Can do whatever it likes

    There is still not enough time in the damn day to gets basic things done.

    Games consoles are collecting dust most of the time... Kinect will end the same way. No amount of lip reading and mood sensing will help.

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  19. Alistair MacRae

    Microsoft losing their way with this?

    It's all very well making improvements and such but the trouble with making a games that only work with a certain peripheral has always been a problem in the past and now MS is planning making different versions of the peripheral means that you'll very unlikely to get any developer using whatever features get added.

    The only way I can see this working is if it goes into the 3rd Xbox SKU.

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  20. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    "John Spartan, you are fined one credit for violation of the obscenity code"

    Come on now, you don't think that even in "standby" mode it will not quitely be reporting every conversation you have in the sitting room back to those responsible for protecting us from ourselves.

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  21. JDX Gold badge

    re:How about they actually release some decent software

    That's for the games companies to do. It takes time to get to grips with any new advance in console hardware... hence PS3 games are still getting better graphics as programmers learn the hardware more and more.

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  22. Gadget Rage is BAD

    RE:JDX

    And what are Microsoft Studios exactly? Oh yeah.. a games studio. About all they've spat out so far is Kinect Joy Ride that I can think off. I agree it takes time to get used to it but then they should be the experts and should produce something for the others to aspire to. Look at the Wii, Super Mario Galaxy showed the world what you can do with motion controls and who developed that, oh yeah Nintendo.

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  23. JDX Gold badge

    Nintendo also make some games. But they are not the sole maker of games. And it STILL takes time to learn how to make a good game with a totally new input device, rather than as a gimmick.

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