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Microsoft kills off Kinect, stops manufacturing it
Microsoft is finally admitting Kinect is truly dead. After years of debate over whether Kinect is truly dead or not, the software giant has now stopped manufacturing the accessory. Fast Co Design reports that the depth camera and microphone accessory has sold around 35 million units since its debut in November, 2010. Microsoft's Kinect for Xbox 360 even became the fastest-selling consumer device back in 2011, winning recognition from Guinness World Records at the time.
In the years since its debut on Xbox 360, a community built up around Microsoft's Kinect. It was popular among hackers looking to create experiences that tracked body movement and sensed depth. Microsoft even tried to bring Kinect even more mainstream with the Xbox One, but the pricing and features failed to live up to expectations. Microsoft was then forced to unbundle Kinect from Xbox One, and produced an unsightly accessory to attach the Kinect to the Xbox One S. After early promise, Kinect picked up a bad name for itself.
Kinect technology lives on in products such as HoloLens, Windows Hello cameras, and "Mixed Reality" headsets.
(Score: 3, Informative) by richtopia on Thursday October 26 2017, @03:44PM
I suspect this may be part of the problem. The hardware is pretty awesome for the price, and I suspect Microsoft was either selling at cost or a loss. For video games that makes sense, as games are supposed to be the primary revenue stream.
I personally have fiddled with 3d scanning with the Kinect, although I was using the first generation and the resolution is clearly designed for human sized objects. For most items I want to 3d print they are hand held so the Kinect was not sufficient, but still a very cool tech demo.
http://skanect.occipital.com/ [occipital.com]