$2,000 Bounty For Open Source Xbox Kinect Drivers

ptorrone writes "Open source hardware company Adafruit Industries is offering a $2,000 bounty for the first person or group to upload driver code and examples under an open source license to GitHub for the Xbox Kinect released yesterday. The Kinect sensor outputs video at a frame rate of 30Hz, with the RGB video stream at 32-bit color VGA resolution (640×480 pixels), and the monochrome video stream used for depth sensing at 16-bit QVGA resolution (320×240 pixels with 65,536 levels of sensitivity). The open hardware group would like to see this camera used for education, robotics and fun outside the Xbox." The bounty was originally $1,000, but Microsoft's dour response induced Adafruit to double it. ("With Kinect, Microsoft built in numerous hardware and software safeguards designed to reduce the chances of product tampering. Microsoft will continue to make advances in these types of safeguards and work closely with law enforcement and product safety groups to keep Kinect tamper-resistant.") In addition, the Xbox 360 dashboard update that preceded Kinect's launch contains upgraded anti-piracy restrictions.

Re:Is reverse engineering still legal ?

[Anonymous Coward]

http://www.joystiq.com/2010/11/04/kinect-teardown-two-cameras-four-microphones-12-watts-of-powe/

"Something with two cameras and 4 microphones is the last thing from Microsoft I would allow in my house"

Spyware?

Re:Is reverse engineering still legal ?

[Jeremiah Cornelius]

Winston, Inner Party members can turn it off - those propriety dictates that this be for no more than half-hour intervals.

Signed, O'Brien.

Re:Microsoft's position is tricky

[Com2Kid]

No matter how "OMFG! AWESOME!" this thing is, unless I know for sure what software is being run, I consider it an unsafe product for my privacy.

Dude, it can't ID me if my glasses are on or if there is sunlight coming through any of the windows.

For some reason I am not worried. :)

Re:Microsoft's position is tricky

[Blakey Rat]

You are the most paranoid person on Earth. By a wide margin.

If you're that opposed to it, why would you even buy it in the first place? Or, you know, leave your Xbox running all the time? (It has a power button, FYI.) Or is part of your paranoid conspiracy theory that the power button doesn't actually turn it off?