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12 BEST Kinect HACKS


2m read
·Nov 10, 2024

Vsauce, hello! Michael here.

In IMG 12, I showed you some Kinect fails, but today I want to explore my favorite Kinect wins. The Kinect tracks 20 joints on your body 30 times a second, and with simple drivers, people from all over the world are taking it into their own hands.

Besides exploiting the fact that it's an actual 3D camera, people are harnessing it to play all sorts of games with their hands in the air like they just don't care. For example, Minecraft, Mario Kart, Super Mario Brothers, or this guy who made a demo of 3D Tetris where your hands manipulate the pieces and you can move your head to change the screen's perspective.

A few days ago, Kevin showed you a guy who used the Kinect to track his nipples and cover them up. Well, if you're less shy, do what this guy did—program your Kinect to recognize and reify your air guitar. It's like playing Rock Band but without all the plastic paraphernalia.

This guy let it detect his body but then replaced it with the back wall to make him the Invisible Man. Creepy, right? Well, not as creepy as this. Here's someone who took the Kinect's recognition of his body and had it transformed him in real time to a giant pillowy blob mutant.

In case you're curious, yes, he did make a follow-up video with his cat. But why not mount the Kinect on a robot and use it as the robot's eyes? Well, these people did. And since the Kinect sees in 3D, of course, it's a flying robot.

Question: What if the Star Wars kid was not only a dork but also a geek? Answer: He may have done what this guy did—use the Kinect to track a wooden stick and give it a lightsaber overlay. Or, if you prefer Christmas lights, check out this girl who can control lights like a conductor by waving her hands.

To see more of these and other Kinect hacks, or to get pointers on how to experiment yourself, check out kinecthacks.net or follow the links in this video's description where links to everything I covered can be found.

Oh, oh, and let me know in the comments below what year you think it will be when our brains are completely replaced by computers: 2070, 3015, or are you one of those crazy people on the street who think it already happened? Well, either way, I want to know. Leave it in the comments, and as always, thanks for watching! [Music]

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