Deaf People Can PWN You with Kinect

Miss-Delectable

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Deaf People Can PWN You with Kinect - News

According to the patent filed with the US Patent & Trademark Office the upcoming Kinect motion control device for the XBox 360 may have the ability to read American Sign Language.

Part of the filing for the patent explains that "Each gestured character is converted to its spoken equivalent or text equivalent," hinting that users of sign language may have equal access to Kinect as those without disabilities. The clause further goes on to explain that "The user's input could be converted to voice locally, or by each remote computer. In this situation, for example, when the user kills another user's character, that victorious, though speechless, user would be able to tell the other user that he had been 'PWNED.'"

Yes, the US Patent Office now contains a patent with the word "PWNED" in.

Although the above feature is theoretical at best right now it would be interesting to see if Microsoft do implement this in the device post release and how the speech language community would recieve those features once implemented.

Is this something you would like to see in Kinect upon or post release or what other features would you like to be included? Let us know in the comments below.
 
Wirelessly posted (Samsung Epix (i907))

Microsoft wants to save money? WTF are they thinking...

Again, I hate you Microsoft even MORE!
 
Kinect Dumbed Down - Disregards the Deaf

Kinect Dumbed Down - Disregards the Deaf - News (Xbox 360)

Remember when an early patent for Microsoft's Kinect peripheral revealed that it could detect sign language? Turns out now that it actually can't. According to sources at Kotaku, a 'downgrade' of the device's hardware has removed all possibility of that happening.

Originally, Kinect had a much higher resolution (the model that will be on sale in November has a resolution of 320x240) which could detect precise finger movement on top of limb motion. With the ability to read fingers, the peripheral was able to accept sign language as input.

However Microsoft was said to have removed this capability and "dumb down" the Kinect hardware in order to make the device more cost-effective. According to the story, Microsoft had always intended to sell the product at $150 and would have lost money on each unit sold either way - removing tech and putting some of the burden on the connected Xbox 360 console simply means the company will be losing less money.

For what it's worth, Microsoft responded to the aforementioned patent with the following statement. "We are excited about the potential of Kinect and its potential to impact gaming and entertainment. Microsoft files lots of patent applications to protect our intellectual property, not all of which are brought to market right away. Kinect that is shipping this holiday will not support sign language."

With the popularity of both Kinect and PlayStation Move uncertain, it was probably a good call, if true. But will that knowledge put off potential early adopters and core gamers? Let us know your thoughts in the forum below.
 
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