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Input Devices Microsoft PC Games (Games) Role Playing (Games) Games Science Technology

Microsoft Kinect With World of Warcraft 80

Posted by Soulskill from the get-some-exercise-while-you-raid dept.
An anonymous reader writes "Researchers at the University of Southern California Institute for Creative Technologies have developed software that enables control of PC video games using the Microsoft Kinect sensor. Their toolkit, known as the Flexible Action and Articulated Skeleton Toolkit (FAAST), emulates custom-configured keyboard controls triggered by body posture and specific gestures. This video shows a user playing the online game World of Warcraft using the Kinect. Potential applications of this technology include video games for motor rehabilitation after stroke and reducing childhood obesity through healthy gaming."

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Microsoft Kinect With World of Warcraft More

Microsoft Kinect With World of Warcraft

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  • Horrible (Score:4, Interesting)

    by QuantumG ( 50515 ) * <qg@biodome.org> on Tuesday December 28, 2010 @06:28AM (#34684784) Homepage Journal

    Anyway, has anyone actually done streaming skeletal recognition over the web yet? Seems that's the kinda thing that would be an interesting addition to Second Life or some of the other "open" virtual worlds.

  • And, in the final part, I was here, just waiting for a Tauren Paladin to jump into scene and gank the mage while the guy was explaining why it would be a good thing for kids.

    Yes, I'm that horrible.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Endo13 ( 1000782 )

      Yes, I'm that horrible.

      Also apparently not very observant. He wasn't flagged for PvP.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by Krneki ( 1192201 )

        Yes, I'm that horrible.

        Also apparently not very observant. He wasn't flagged for PvP.

        He was an engineer camouflaged as a sheep.

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by uolamer ( 957159 )
      I could see him trying to use those gestures to try to defend himself. I just do not think it is reasonable to think anyone can play nearly as good with any of these current motion capture devices compared to having a keyboard.. DPS will drop, it will fail to pick up a gesture here and there, etc. I am sure this is quite fun and has it uses though.

  • Raid (Score:5, Funny)

    by mseeger ( 40923 ) on Tuesday December 28, 2010 @06:44AM (#34684846)

    I would love to see a Raid of 25 people using this. It should look like some kind of ballet.

    CU, Martin

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by durrr ( 1316311 )
      It wouldn't look like anything at all because due to blizzards fascist grade tos they would have everyone banned for botting/macros.
      They would then release a Blizzard-certified movement-controlled-wow-interface for $300.

      • Re:Raid (Score:4, Interesting)

        by mseeger ( 40923 ) on Tuesday December 28, 2010 @07:02AM (#34684906)

        I played WoW for several years with G5 keyboard (which is very macro-friendly) and never had any problems with Blizzard..... AFAIK no one was ever banned for using a specific input device unless he/she actually used it for botting.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by Krneki ( 1192201 )
          In my last half of year of WoW, since I got too bored I was just botting.

          I didn't run in a problem once. All you have to do is to rename the exe file and don't be AFK.

          The truth is, unless you are AFK and playing 24/7, they can't find you.

        • Re: (Score:1)

          by JBBW ( 1951870 )
          This is true. You can be banned for 'unattended playing' but not much else. It looks like this is just about the opposite of that.

      • It wouldn't look like anything at all because due to blizzards fascist grade tos they would have everyone banned for botting/macros.

        They would then release a Blizzard-certified movement-controlled-wow-interface for $300.

        There's a huge difference between botting and using a fancy input device.

        Lots of people use macro-friendly input devices like the fancy Logitech keyboards. I personally used a Nostromo n52 for years.

      • The policy of using custom input devices to play WoW is as follows:
        Every input into the game must be associated with a user interaction. The device delivering the input must deliver the input as quickly as possible when the user inputs the command, in that delaying input into the game is not allowed. Finally, the device must not analyze the state of the game other than if the game is receiving the input when making decisions on what input command corresponds with the user input (or if the command from the u

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by NoSig ( 1919688 )
          You can't make one mouse or keyboard click result in multiple clicks, so many programmable keyboards count as botting. That is because this defeats the very carefully orchestrated limitations in the Blizzard macro system. Specifically, it is set up so that a macro cannot continue past an error, such as trying to use an ability that is on cooldown (and that triggers the global cooldown (GCD) if available). You also cannot investigate from a macro if an ability is available, so the effect is that a single but

    • I'd guess it would look more like a very weird variant of caramelldansen.

      Just when you thought the DDR fad was over...

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by Nos. ( 179609 )

      "Who the hell aggro'd that patrol?"

      "Sorry, I was just trying to scratch my ass"

  • Awesome post. Thanks for sharing a useful information.

  • 1) Dislocate/sprain something while using this device
    2) Hire lawyer
    3) ...
    4) PROFIT!!!!!

  • why not simply go outside and play a REAL LIFE fucking game instead of some shite computer game if your concerns include childhood obesity....

    in addition to burning more calories, using more muscle groups, and breathing fresh air, you will also learn to speak to and relate to other human beings, first hand, and learn essential social skills like co-operation and mutual goal seeking...

    ffs

    • As a side note... I found when I was heavily into MMOs, I actually lost weight. Crazy, I know... but I wasn't sitting on the couch with a bag of chips in one hand because that would get my keyboard and mouse all nasty. I actually ate better (less junk food) when I was playing because carrots weren't as greasy, I had bought more food from the grocery store so I had more time to play (didn't have to get in the car and run to Wendy's) and could grab a sandwich when I was hungry.

      • I agree. I got back into WoW with Cataclysm. I quit for a few months every now-and-then because of classes. When I can't find time for homework plus wow after my job, I don't login for a month or so. Anyways, yeah, I eat a lot better food whenever I'm gaming constantly Apples for a snack instead of some chips and dip. I also find I'm not hungry as often. I'll look at the clock and notice three hours have gone by, and I "should probably" eat dinner, right after I finish this quest hub. Then it's midnight an
      • Why dont you go outside and talk to people instead of sitting inside posting on slashdot. Crazy i know but you could be actually interacting with people. VOCALLY without a microphone.

        • I do go out... all the time. I go out and go to work (I even take the stairs up to the third floor office,) I go out and go to the bar some weekends, I regularly go out with REAL people to eat at times too. GASP!. I don't sit at my PC constantly and I don't know where you got that idea.

          • ah ah was trying to reply to parent must of clicked something wrong. sorry for the confusion was just trying to point out how ridiculous it is to complain about people not going out and playing a game whilsts they are themselves not going out and posting on a message board on slashdot
    • Calm down ... these kids are not going outside. Maybe we can get them active.
    • There are a subset of people that have no interest in other human beings. I for one am too cranky.

    • why not simply go outside and play a REAL LIFE fucking game instead of some shite computer game if your concerns include childhood obesity....

      in addition to burning more calories, using more muscle groups, and breathing fresh air, you will also learn to speak to and relate to other human beings, first hand, and learn essential social skills like co-operation and mutual goal seeking...

      ffs

      Posts like this make me wish there was a "+1: Troll" option

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by BobMcD ( 601576 )

      Well, aside from 'getting off your lawn', can you cite any way that this would be worse than going outside? The criteria you've left here is pretty weak:

      A) burning more calories - This depends on the length and availability of play, doesn't it? Which of the two options would be susceptible to weather? Scheduling conflicts?

      B) using more muscle groups - Um, no. Not necessarily. The wireframe is full-skeletal. You could make walking tied to leg movements, for example. You could tie 'attack' to 'jumping'

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by afidel ( 530433 )
      You'd be surprised how many calories a good session with the kinect can burn. My wife's cousins are 16 and 14 and are both cheerleaders (highschool and competitive squads) and even they were sore the next day from playing. Of course the wow controller seemed to only focus on hand gestures so it's a lot less cardio than the xbox titles that exercise the entire body.

    • Um, are there hot dark elves in this new "Real Life" game you're pitching to me? ~

    • And in the meantime, the WoW kid is learning essential technology skills.

      Anyways, my kids do both. It's not an either/or proposition.

  • Maybe I'm being lazy, but call me when finger flicks and other small gestures can be used and detected properly. Keyboards and mice work so well because you don't need to exert tons of effort into doing a simple task. Our hands are one of our best features for mimicking any sort of device till you can wire it into your brain. Doing a 25ms reaction with your fingers is a lot easier then with your back. Kinect just seems more like a gimmick and a Wiii too (me too) thing, then something extremely usable.

    I coul

    • Too much standing.

      I could only watch the first ten seconds because it just looked so uncomfortable. There was nothing natural or intuitive about the movements and WoW? Seriously, they used WoW as they're example? They need a much simpler game (and a reason to be standing) to make this shine.

      • Agreed. Not to mention, just one mob in Dustwallow? Lame. Let's see him run that sucker in Twilight Highlands doin' the dailies out there. Or on FTA/FTH run...or in AV..... I agree, finger flicks and/or face gestures (sticking my tongue out to pop hero/bloodlust...oh yea...). Call me when I can fake a yawn to thunderfk people off a bridge.

        • Agreed. Not to mention, just one mob in Dustwallow? Lame. Let's see him run that sucker in Twilight Highlands doin' the dailies out there. Or on FTA/FTH run...or in AV..... I agree, finger flicks and/or face gestures (sticking my tongue out to pop hero/bloodlust...oh yea...). Call me when I can fake a yawn to thunderfk people off a bridge.

          Ah, that's right. I knew there was a reason I didn't go back into WoW for Cata.

          The players.

      • Between the number of people I've heard complaining about the Kinect requiring too much movement, and the number of people jumping on the "motion gaming" bandwagon, it almost seems like Nintendo got it right. The sweet spot between making games more physical and not making them too physical. Even senior citizens can play Wii games. I guess you can't just jump into full motion. Maybe go from using just your hands to involving your arms too. And maybe one day we'll be ready for games that involve the whole b
        • Well if you are near-fit you should have no issues with it. I can see some folks scoffing at physical movement to play games, because it is too hard for them...it would be a wake up call saying "hey get the F in shape so you can play these new sweet interactive games".

  • Look at his keybinds, I bet he's a dancer.

  • Real men (and frost mages) play with a wheel and pedals [youtube.com].

    Okay, Slashdot, let's do what you do best and turn WoW-play with unconventional devices from a mere YouTube fad to a full-on institution of social progress. That's right: WoW-play powered by a treadmill, Mountain Dew cans, and buckets of oily skin run-off.

    Let's start a revolution.

    Let's change the world.

    Let's... hey, why's that guy playing WoW when he could be having sex on his Kinect [youtube.com]? Urgh... Goddamnit, Microsoft. [slashdot.org]

  • I'm not liking the way WoW plays with this interface. I'd think, at a minimum that you'd want to use controller-plus-body. There's just too damn many buttons.

    Sports titles would be good. Are there any good ones for PC?

    Or perhaps Kinect-plus-WiiZapper for some awesome FPS action?

    WoW sucks as an example, but surely we can do better...

  • At least this would get me out of my chair and into motion more. A sign of playing too much is that not only do I know what kind of character he is playing and his approximate level, but also exactly where he is in the Warcraft world.
  • So is a lot of "prior art" being created so that many of these methods become free to implement, or is it possible that patents on these techniques have already been snapped up and this is just free crowd sourced R&D and fleshing out of the logistics so that only Microsoft and PrimeSense can implement any of this commercially?

  • This guy needs to learn some pet control, what a waste.

  • Not at all surprised to see him moving into a sideline with WoW, not surprised at all.

  • http://www.google.com/search?q=nes+u-force [google.com]

    This is simply mapping certain motions (detected by the Kinect) into certain keyboard commands, just as the U-Force mapped hand motions to NES buttons. Note that the U-Force was universally rated among the worst controllers and peripherals of all time.

    It would be cool if your mage could throw a fireball with a hadoken gesture, but this is currently just "move left arm down to press 1" and "lean forward to press Up".

  • Seriously, *leaning forward and backward* to control something? Raising your entire arm? Well, I can see how this would help to *reduce* the time kids play games, which is probably good, but completely unrealistic. I can see law suits (in the US of course) related to RSI injuries or just back pain from playing like that.

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