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Kinect lets you see yourself in VR game

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What do you get when bring together the cutting-edge virtual reality (VR) of the HTC Vive system and the Kinect for Xbox One’s unparalleled ability to track multiple people in three-dimensional space? You get an experience that allows you to see not only what another player is doing in the VR space, but also to see a virtual representation of yourself. This is new and exciting, as current HTC Vive multiplayer games only show you representations of the other players, not yourself.

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3OYY5n4U4JA[/embed]

The work of Dutch developers Jasper Brekelmans (a Microsoft Most Valued Professional) and Jeroen de Mooij, the experimental process uses the Kinect sensor to track the bodies of two users in 3D space. By taking the Kinect data and aligning it with the Vive’s positional tracking, the developers have created a unique experience that lets users see a video representation of themselves and other players in a VR environment.

The setup that Brekelmans and de Mooij used in the video shown above consisted of two HTC Vive headsets and controllers, two workstation PCs, a Kinect for Xbox One sensor, and a laptop PC, all running on a local area network. But the developers point out that the same process could be used via the Internet, provided that both users use the exact same setup of HTC Vive components and Kinect sensors. And, as Brekelmans happily notes, “we managed to keep the data bandwidth to about 4 to 5 megabits per second, which took quite a bit of sweat.”

We are eager to see the evolution of this technology, which promises a more authentic VR gaming experience and demonstrates serious potential for use in productivity and communication apps.

The Kinect for Windows Team

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Comments

  • Anonymous
    March 08, 2016
    Great Demo! :)
  • Anonymous
    March 08, 2016
    HoloLens? :D
  • Anonymous
    June 24, 2016
    where can we get our hands on this demo or can expect this to be in a program for the vive?
    • Anonymous
      August 19, 2016
      We asked the developers of this technology, and they informed us that, currently, they have no plans to release this to the public.
  • Anonymous
    July 20, 2016
    Did you have to deal with interference issues?
    • Anonymous
      August 19, 2016
      Response from the developers of this technology: “We didn't have interference issues, but it may have had to do with the particular angles of the devices in our setup; we didn't really experiment with that.”
  • Anonymous
    July 23, 2016
    Won't kinect and vive interfere with each other? Both of them are based on infrared to detect the user.
    • Anonymous
      August 19, 2016
      We asked the developers of this technology, and this was their response: “It just depends on which frequency band each device uses in the infrared spectrum and if or how much they overlap. I don't really have numbers for that. Also I don't know if there is a difference with the pre-release Lighthouses we used and the release versions.”