Microsoft hit a home run with Windows 7, especially if you had the unfortunate pleasure of using its predecessor, Windows Vista. Today reports are coming in suggesting Microsoft may parlay its Kinect technology into the upcoming OS and with it some tasty facial recognition features. Are you ready for Windows 8 to “detect human presence”?
Let’s face it, webcams are in. If you’re using a laptop or planning to buy one soon, odds are there’s one onboard. Windows8Italia has posted details of Windows 8’s sensors control panel which includes references to “Detect Human Presence”. The details shouldn’t come as a complete shock since earlier slides leaked in June suggested Kinect-like features for future webcam based sensors.
What makes today’s news so interesting is in the way Microsoft plans to integrate the feature. Instead of logging in with your normal username and password, your webcam will activate as you approach your machine. Using Kinect-like facial detection, your computer will log you in — the same way Kinect logs you into Xbox Live on the Xbox 360.
There’s also some slides which showcase 3D motion capture, but details on how that will be implemented into Windows 8 are a bit scarce at this time. For now, plan to do a lot less typing when logging into future Windows machines.
via winrumors
