[Lab] MS Kinect question

[Jason Cobill]

   I'm just in the middle of a bunch of Kinect experiments myself, so good
timing! :)

   The Kinect for XBox has a non-standard connector to plug into the XBox -
with the Windows version you get an adaptor that converts from XBox to USB,
and plugs into the wall to power the Kinect camera.

   I've seen some really cool demos on the Scanect software site regarding
environment and people scanning - James on this list has some more direct
experience with that software. I've been using the OpenKinect API on the
Mac to access the data directly - there's some pretty rad stuff going on in
there. :) You can also yank pointcloud data directly into Meshlab now using
the Kinect/OpenNI plugin for Meshlab, but it only works on Windows 7 & 8 -
hope your OS is up to date! I'm running Vista and had endless headaches
trying to get the hardware to talk to the software.

   A side note about scanning environments: The depth data from the Kinect
is logarithmically scaled instead of linearly, so the further you get from
the camera the bigger the error gets. Up close (torso scanning) you can get
around 25points/cm^2, which is fantastic, but I think if you're intending
to scan rooms you might want to go with a more sophisticated lidar tool
that doesn't suffer from so much distortion. (Although, as I said, the
Scanect people have an impressive demo of a small room being scanned, so
it's not impossible)

   -Jason Cobill




On Wed, Aug 14, 2013 at 12:42 PM, j ross <waterfallclose at gmail.com> wrote:

> Hi all - I'm considering getting a MS kinect, but wanted to get some
> opinions and advice first:
> - difference between MS kinect for windows and xbox (eg.
> performance/features, OpenNI compatibility)?  (They appear identical but
> xbox ~$110, windows ~$270 - SDK seems free so I don't understand the
> difference except maybe commercial use markup)
> - where to buy MS kinect for windows in Canada? (I only see amazon as a
> supplier 3-5weeks lead)
> - if xbox (eg. from best buy), what else do I need to connect to a PC?  Do
> I need to hack the connectors? Does the connector adapter come with it?
> - comments on Xtion Live, Carmine sensors?
>
> I have googled these topics but there don't seem to be clear answers.  My
> main interest is for scanning people, large objects and rooms as well as
> future work for gesture input.  I'm currently working with David Scanner
> for small to medium static objects with structured light - takes too long
> for people/rooms though and not suitable for gestures.
>
> Thanks!
> Jeff
>
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