Microsoft Kinect might be the latest in video game motion sensing tech, but as we’ve now seen, hack-types are using it for all sorts. One of the latest hacks is this Kinect-equipped Frankenstein-like invention that turns Kinect into a 3D sensing robot you can navigate with your hands. Could this one day be Microsoft’s version of the infamous Nintendo R.O.B.? See it in action, in our video of the week.
Put together by the Personal Robots Group at MIT, the 3D sensing hack takes a battery-powered Microsoft Kinect and an iRobot Create to let it navigate a surrounding area, while sensing and developing a virtual 3D environment within its grey matter.
The resulting robot can even sense humans within its field of vision, and can be controlled by waving at it as you would while using Kinect proper. Does a Kinect robot future await?
See it in action in the video below and let us know what you think. Got any ideas what this tech could/should be used for? Drop us a message in the comments and tell us.
