The movement and voice sensing systems of the Kinect have found a great many uses through unofficial "hacks," which Microsoft actually encourages. From 3D object scan to a surgery aide, new uses for the Kinect are still being discovered.
This one caught my eye however, as a new study is attempting to use Kinect to detect early signs of autism in children with its motion sensing capabilities. The project is by researchers at the University of Minnesota's Institute of Child Development in Minneapolis.
A nursery was fitted with five Kinect sensors that were set to monitor a group of 3-5 year old children. Each child was tracked by the colors they were wearing, and their movement patterns were fed into a bank of computers that would use an algorithm to recognize if they were being hyperactive or unusually still, which could indicate possible autism.
The team wants to eventually have the Kinect be able to cross reference a child's behavior with the Autism Observation Scale for Infants. The scale measures if a child can follow an object in front of them along with mannerisms and posture that are early indicators of autism. The ultimate goal would be the creation of some sort of Kinect game that parents could play with their child that would serve as a test for signs of autism.
"The idea is not that we are going to replace the diagnosis, but we are going to bring diagnosis to everybody," explains researcher Guillermo Sapiro. "The same way a good teacher flags a problem child, the system will do automatic flagging and say, 'Hey, this kid needs to see an expert'."
If properly developed, a Kinect title could be an easily accessible household test that could put parents' minds at ease about their child's development, or inform them that they need to seek out help and further tests.
I may not be sold that the Kinect is the future of gaming, but the technology certainly seems to have its futuristic uses.
