Hello Kinect for PCs, Goodbye Mouse and Keyboard?

Microsoft announced just a few weeks ago that Kinect for Windows will be finalized in 2012; since then, there's been a lot of speculation about what that means for desktop PCs. Now, the company is confirming that it's working on Kinect for PCs.

New developments will enable Kinect to detect movements as close as 50 cm to the PC screen--instead of across the living room.

While the possibilities are great, we're most excited about the prospect of a mouse- and keyboard-free future. Bring it, Microsoft!

Augmented Reality GPS ... on a Camera?

Next time you go on vacation, make sure you see (and photograph) all the best sights by taking along the new Fujifilm FinePix F600 EXR compact superzoom camera.

The F600 includes GPS so you can tag your photos as you go. The location can then be plotted on a map, which features an augmented reality landmark navigator. Muchlike a cell phone app might, this navigator automatically locates places of interest from a built-in database of about 1 million locations. It also lets you know where they are and how to get there, all on the camera's 3-inch screen.

The camera also features motion-detection software that will help you to avoid taking blurry pics. When the camera automatically spots that a subject is moving, it adjusts to a high shutter speed to freeze the action. Awesome!

The camera goes on sale at the end of October, just in time for Christmas gift planning. Oh and it's only about $540.

The View From Above: In Hard Focus Round-up (July 25, 2011)

3D music teacher: UberGizmo writes about an application for the aspiring musician called iPerform3D, which allows one to learn guitar from a 3D tutor. The app, which used movie quality MoCap360 motion capture technology to record hours of real people and movements, gives users the ability to zoom in, view movements from any angle, and loop segments of music. Check out the video above for a demonstration.

Create your own animated Avatar: Avatar Kinect launched today in the Kinect Fun Labs, allowing you to translate your gestures into on-screen avatar movements. Gizmodo reports that while it’s not the best rendition of one’s self, it still “nails more often than not” larger movements like eyebrow raising and hand gestures. Try it on your Xbox now.

AR to Help Smokers Quit:  On CNET, design company SapientNitro launched an AR app to let smokers see the impact of cigarettes on their lungs. Well, a virtual simulation. AR Lungs pulls from a database of medically correct digital lungs and allows users to select their age, the number of cigarettes they smoke and the frequency. From there, people can point a Webcam or smartphone camera at their chest to see a superimposed representation of their lungs. Discoloration included. Check out the app (it's free!) here. It's almost as effective as this video. 

The View from Above: In Hard Focus Round-up (July 20, 2011)

Request your ideal office chair with a simple gesture?: A new system called Data Miming reveals a great application of Microsoft's Kinect sensors, allowing people the ability to translate gestures into a 3D representation of an object. New Scientist describes how this system recognizes Voxels (pixels in three dimensions) and matches them to a ‘vocabulary’ of objects that match the motions. See video above for a demonstration. 

A desktop computer, literally: Another use of Kinect to power 3D sensitive displays, the Evoluce TWO is a multi-touch LCD display that responds to both touch and motion. As Ubergizmo describes, its motion technology can determine “if a glass of water is full or empty," which begs the question of whether it also recognizes ‘half empty or half full?’ Quite impressive technology.

3D without the specs: TechCrunch reports that Hitachi announced a new screen for mobile devices today with impressive 3D capabilities. Highlights of this new model include high resolution, brighter images and the ability to view 3D images with the naked eye. Just when those 3D glasses were getting stylish… 

Kiss Controller Takes Video Games to Second Base

Remember the simpler days, when the square controller from your Nintendo Entertainment System gave you blisters and cut painfully into your hands? Well, the next generation of video game controllers is about as far from that as possible.

Kinect has already enabled us to play video games with our bodies. Now, the Kiss Controller is taking that concept further … to second base, in fact.

As its name suggests, the Kiss Controller enables the players to control the video game by kissing. For example, to play a bowling game, one player wears a special headset that has magnetic-field sensors attached to it. The other player attaches a magnet to his or her tongue (usually with Fixodent). Hormonal teenagers everywhere like where this is headed…

Hye Yeon Nam, the artist who created the Kiss Controller explains how it works on her Vimeo site:

While they kiss, the person who has the magnet on his/her tongue, controls the direction and speed of the bowling ball for 20 seconds. The goals of this game are to guide the ball so that it maintains an average position in the center of the alley and to increase the speed of the ball by moving the tongue faster while kissing.