Mastering the Microsoft Kinect

Know how to program the Microsoft Kinect and use the device for applications that interact directly with humans through gestures and motion. This book covers the mathematics and theoretical background needed for depth sensing, motion tracking, and object recognition while maintaining a practical focus on getting things done. You will learn to track the human body in three-dimensional space, analyze the human motion, and remove the background to isolate the person being tracked. You will see how to recognize objects and voice, and transform between the three-dimensional physical space and a computer’s two-dimensional screen.

The book is written with real-world applications in mind. It provides step-by-step tutorials and source code for common use cases. The author has worked with startups and Fortune 500 companies, and all of the examples are taken directly from the industry. The book’s practical focus simplifies the core principles, removes the clutter, and allows developers to start writing code right away. Also covered is the use of Azure Cognitive Services on Microsoft’s cloud platform and their use for object and voice recognition, enabling your applications to “see” objects and respond to their environment.

What You Will Learn

• Visualize color, depth, and body data
• Calculate angles between different body joints
• Analyze human motion and create fitness applications
• Recognize objects and voice using cloud-powered artificial intelligence
• Remove the background from a scene to create virtual worlds

Who This Book Is For

Developers who want to build demanding Kinect apps and games, and those who are looking for a careful balance between theoretical knowledge and practical application that favors the practical. Readers should have a basic knowledge of C# and some familiarity with the Unity3D engine.

Table of Contents

Part I: Meet the Kinect

Chapter 1: Mixed Reality and Kinect

Chapter 2: The Developer Toolbox

Part II: The Basics

Chapter 3: Configuring the Device

Chapter 4: Color Data

Chapter 5: Depth Data

Chapter 6: Body Tracking

Part Ill: The Magic

Chapter 7: Streaming Data in the Background

Chapter 8: Coordinate Mapping

Chapter 9: Augmented Reality: Removing the Background of the Users

Chapter 10: Motion Analysis

Part IV: The “Azure” in Kinect

Chapter 11: Azure Cognitive Services

Chapter 12: Computer Vision and Object Detection

About the Author

Vangos Pterneas is a professional software engineer and an award-winning Microsoft Most Valuable Professional. Since 2012, Vangos has been helping Fortune 500 companies and ambitious startups create demanding motion-tracking applications. He is obsessive about analyzing and modeling every aspect of the human motion using computer vision and mathematics. Kinect programming started as a hobby and quickly evolved into a full-time business. Vangos is sharing his passion by regularly publishing articles and open-source projects that help fellow developers understand the fascinating Kinect technology.