It was not too long ago that Microsoft developed a standalong Kinect for Windows V2 sensor for its OS but now the company is pulling the plug on the sensor and is instead adopting for an adopter for the Xbox One Kinect which is cheaper.
The Kinect sensor will no longer be sold on the retail stores and the Redmond based company has already stopped the production for the same.
Nonetheless, the company insists demand for its Kinect sensors, especially among the developer community, has been strong in recent months. It’s just that the dedicated Windows sensor had become dated once the launch of the Kinect Adapter, a $50 add-on that allows an ordinary Kinect for Xbox One camera to work with a Windows 8 and 8.1 PC.
“Over the past several months, we have seen unprecedented demand from the developer community for Kinect sensors and have experienced difficulty keeping up with requests in some markets,” explained Microsoft senior technology evangelist for Kinect, Michael Fry on the company blog. “Microsoft remains committed to Kinect as a development platform on both Xbox and Windows, “We are excited to continue working with the developer community to create and deploy applications that allow users to interact naturally with computers through gestures and speech, and continue to see the Kinect sensor inspire vibrant and innovative commercial experiences in multiple industries, including retail, education, healthcare, education, and manufacturing.”
“The Kinect Adapter enables you to connect a Kinect for Xbox One sensor to Windows 8.0 and 8.1 PCs and tablets in the same way as you would a Kinect for Windows v2 sensor,” Fry said. “And because both Kinect for Xbox One and Kinect for Windows v2 sensors are functionally identical, our Kinect for Windows SDK 2.0 works exactly the same with either.”
