Revision as of 11:13, 14 June 2012

Microsoft Kinect device.

This series of tutorials will explain the usage of a Kinect device for "serious" researching purposes. As you may know, Kinect is in fact an affordable depth sensor, developed with technology from PrimeSense, based on infrarred Time-of-Flight (TOF) method. It also has a common camera (which makes it a RGB-D device), a microphone and a motorized pivot. Its use is not limited to playing with a Xbox360 console, you can plug it to a computer and use it like any other sensor. Many open-source drivers and frameworks are available.

Since its release on November 2010, it has gained a lot of popularity, specially among the scientific community. Many researches have procured themselves one because, despite the low cost (about 150 €), it has proven to be a powerful solution for depth sensing projects. Current investigations focus on real-time surface mapping, object recognition and tracking, and localization. Impressive results (like the KinectFusion project from Microsoft) are already possible.

I will explain the installation and usage of one of these Kinect devices with a common PC, and the possibilities it offers. I will do it in an easy to understand way, intended for students that have just acquired it and want to start from scratch.

NOTE: The tutorials are written for Linux platforms.

Getting everything ready

You will need the following:

• A common Kinect device, out of the box. You can buy it in your local electronics shop, or online. It includes an USB adapter and power supply.
• A computer running Linux (Debian or Ubuntu preferably).
• A medium-sized room. Kinect has some limitations for depth measurement: 40cm minimum, 8m maximum (make it 6).