Microsoft's Kinect is fast becoming the weapon of choice for hackers who see greater applications for the relatively inexpensive, 3D mapping technology beyond petting virtual animals.
MIT student Philipp Robbel, for example, recently developed the KinectBot, a motion sensing robot with some interesting (or terrifying?) applications...
Utilizing Kinect's 3D sensors on top of an iRobot Create body, KinectBot uses Kinect's mapping technology to identify basic human gestures and respond accordingly. It can also be used to survey an environment and send a detailed 3D image back to a remote computer.
According to Robbel, the intent of the KinectBot project was to create a robot that could be deployed in swarms to rescue humans at disasters sites. Which is great, of course, until the'swarms' become 'armies' and 'rescue humans' becomes'eradicated theorganic rebels.'
Irrational fears aside, Robbel's work is an awesome example of what happens when smart people get a hold of smart toys. For more, check outMIT's Personal Robots Group website.
Nov 18, 2010
[Source: Singularity Hub]
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