Boeing is using Windows Azure & Kinect to create a Virtual tour for Boing 737

The commercial aircraft giant is using the software giant’s technology to create a virtual tour of the next-generation Boeing 737 plane, using Kinect, Silverlight Deep Zoom, and Windows 7 Touch and Azure.

Digital marketing agency Wire Stone created Boeing 737 Explained, an interactive marketing tool to help Boeing pitch the aircraft to potential buyers. While Wire Stone is based in the Silicon Valley, the Boeing Kinect work took place at the agency’s Seattle office.

In what is being billed as an early commercial non-entertainment use of Kinect, Wire Stone says it integrated Kinect and other Microsoft technology for Boeing to use in trade shows and other venues that can support massive displays where Boeing 737 Explained can be viewed in real-world dimensions.

From selling jetliners to training surgeons, it is already apparent that Kinect has applications beyond games.

The 737 project uses the technology behind Kinect motion controller for Xbox 360 to let a viewer move around and explore the 737.

With Kinect, Boeing is able to turn a dry, technical pitch into a virtual tour of the aircraft.

“If we look at all the approaches that we use to communicate about the 737, most of them are very analytical, enabling us to talk about the financial operating costs, maintenance costs and other attributes,” Diana Klug, Director of Marketing for Boeing Commercial Airplanes, said in a statement. “We wanted to take the marketing for the 737 to the next level, and the set of tools that we had did not allow us to convey the full range of new features and improvements that we’ve made to the product.”

Using Kinect and other Microsoft technology, stone created Boeing 737 Explained, an interactive marketing to help Boeing to pitch the aircraft to potential buyers.

Here is Microsoft's case study on the project.