Hello all,
It was announced yesterday that Microsoft would be ending the manufacturing of the Kinect device.
I am hoping to continue using the device for MoCap and research.
Any insight into if the SDKs will keep working and you will keep supporting?
Should I stockpile cheap Kinect sensors right now or move to different similar sensors?

Thanks.
Tim

I saw that yesterday and wondered the same. I currently own four Kinect One sensors and use only two, so I'm okay for now. For several years, Kinect and iPi Soft has worked out well for me but I hope a better depth sensor that can operate in a small space comes along before too long.

I wonder if it's feasible for iPi Soft to team up with a hardware manufacturer to design and build their own devices optimized for Mocap Studio. Now that would be awesome. :)

In the meantime, I'll keep using what I have and see how things develop. I know the team is always looking into new third-party gear as they arrive.

_________________
Greenlaw
Artist/Partner - Little Green Dog | My Demo Reels (2013,) (2015,) (2017,) and (2019)

Watch a one minute excerpt on Vimeo now!

I was worried about it for about five seconds -- then I ordered two more (so now I have five). I doubt whether they will be hard to find for many, many years (iPisoft still supports and recommends the Playstation Eye, which hasn't been made for many years, and yet is still easy to find).

However -- I will say you might want to be a bit careful about having enough Kinect PC Adapters. One of mine stopped working recently, and so I ordered a couple more. The first one cost $40, the next $55, and now you can't get them for less than $100, even on eBay. So ration accordingly (I now have four working ones and the parts for the fifth -- the power adapter still works on it, but either the middle part of the cord that goes into the USB slot doesn't work anymore).

Yikes! Yeah, price-gouging is a legitimate concern. I remember seeing the price for the original Kinect For Windows (v1) skyrocket after it was discontinued. I don't know if that will happen with Kinect One (v2) but I would not be surprised.

Fortunately, we have a couple of alternative depth sensors available now or coming soon which iPi may support in the future. See this thread for more information:

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=9863

I'm especially interested in the upcoming RealSense D435 for this spec:

Depth Output Resolution & Frame Rate: Up to 1280x720; Up to 90fps

_________________
Greenlaw
Artist/Partner - Little Green Dog | My Demo Reels (2013,) (2015,) (2017,) and (2019)

Watch a one minute excerpt on Vimeo now!