It may seem like old news, but it is not. Microsoft has announced the end of Kinect againits historical peripheral originally developed for the Xbox 360 and which later mutated into an accessory for developments focused on the business field.
The Redmonds reported that the most recent version of the hardware, called azure kinect, which launched in 2019, has been discontinued. Those interested in acquiring it may do so until October, or until the stock of available units runs out.
Additionally, its software development kit (SDK) will continue to be available for download. And those who already own the device in question will be able to continue using it without any problems.
In this way, Microsoft has decided, once again, to say goodbye to Kinect as a product. Although from the company they affirm that technology will continue to be available thanks to its licensing to other firms. Specifically, the cases of Analog Devices, SICK AG and Orbecc are mentioned, which have developed their own hardware solutions based on Kinect.
“As the needs of our customers and partners evolve, we regularly update our products to provide them with the best support. From time to time, this includes the introduction of new opportunities, as well as the withdrawal of products,” Microsoft explained about the decision. to discontinue the current version of Kinect.
Microsoft says goodbye (again) to Kinect
The Kinect case is very striking. When Microsoft introduced the first version of the device in 2010, as a motion capture sensor for the Xbox 360, many considered it to have everything to revolutionize the video game industry. The simple fact of Not needing a physical controller could forever change the way you play. However, despite the initial expectation, the device never took off.
The lack of a wider variety of games—especially top-tier ones—that were Kinect-compatible, or specifically designed for it, marked part of its failure as a mass-adoption accessory. Although perhaps the worst thing was Microsoft’s decision to force the implementation of Kinect on the Xbox One. Let’s keep in mind that, in principle, the console would not work if the hardware was not connected.
It is true that Redmond backed down on this ridiculous requirement before the launch of the Xbox 360 successor. However, the public backlash was logical. That is to say, however, that the version of Kinect for the Xbox One was considerably more capable, in technological terms, than its predecessor. And let’s not forget that, between the versions for both consoles, Microsoft also released a variant for Windows, in order to take the experience beyond video games.
Despite attempts to keep interest in this development alive, Microsoft opted to discontinue the Xbox One version of Kinect in 2017. However, it did not completely abandon the technology. Part of it was transferred to the HoloLens project —its augmented reality glasses for business use—, and in 2019 it was decided revive Kinect as a standalone product from Azure.
AI hardware, before the AI craze
azure kinect It was born as a PC peripheral that intended to take advantage of the cloud infrastructure set up by Microsoft. In fact, those from Redmond promoted it as a tool for business use, considering its implementation for artificial intelligence projects. Seeing the current push for everything related to AI, we could say that the hardware he was ahead of his time.
The curious thing about Azure Kinect is that its hardware was notoriously more powerful than that of the motion sensor for the Xbox One. Inside it incorporated a 12-megapixel RGB camera, a time-of-flight (ToF) sensor to detect depth, and 7 microphones. . In addition, it was possible to pair two units for 3D mapping.
Kinect’s farewell is a fact, and this time seems to be final. It will be interesting to see if any of the companies that have licensed Microsoft’s technologies manage to create devices that succeed where the Kinect largely went unnoticed.