The Kinect Returns to Life as Cloud Computing Support

Remember the Kinect? Most people felt apathy for the Xbox accessory, others usually felt some degree of disliking. This led to the product being discontinued last year. Now it's back, but not as an Xbox product. Microsoft is using Kinect technology to help advance cloud computing services.

CEO Satya Nadella announced Project Kinect for Azure recently at their developer conference. Azure, a cloud computing service, is one of the companies most profitable ventures. The technology's ability to perceive the people, places, and things around them will provide valuable information to their systems.

The company stated that a new fourth-generation Kinect sensor will be developed for the next generation of HoloLens devices, acting as an improvement over previous versions. This includes a higher-resolution depth camera with minimal power usage.

When the Kinect was announced, it was as an optional Xbox 360 peripheral in 2010. Its ability to track and identify the human form would be integrated into gimmicky features of main games, but the ability would act as the primary feature of motion-based games, such as Dance Central. When the Xbox One launched in 2013, it came with an enhanced version of the Kinect. At launch, the Kinect was a mandatory peripheral, which would be one of the reasons for the system's poor initial reception. With the interest having passed, Microsoft would end production of the Kinect last fall.