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Lying Down Is A Problem For Kinect
A week ago Microsoft cleared up rumors regarding whether Kinect can be played in the seated position, stating it's possible if the game is programmed with sitting in mind. Today we learned of another snag for Microsoft's body-scanning camera: lying down.
You may be asking yourself why a gamer would care if Kinect can recognize a player splayed out on the floor, but consider this: Lying down isn't just for extremely lazy people or gamers who have passed out from having too much fun (also, boredom). Exercise titles such as Blitz Games' The Biggest Loser: Ultimate Workout could utilize a prone position for yoga or push-ups, and Joystiq is reporting that the developer is already running into problems. "We had to consider, would [Kinect's] skeletal tracking ever realistically be able to work out that a player is laying on the floor," Blitz Games' CTO Andrew Oliver said. "We asked – believe me we asked – and we were told it wasn't going to happen."
Luckily, the same solution to Kinect's sitting problem also applies to this newest hiccup: Developers can write their own code to detect shapes, such as a body lying in a crumpled heap on the floor. However, this also means that such options won't be universally supported, and performance will vary based on the skills of the title's programmers.
[Hilarious picture via Wired]
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