Microsoft Partners See Kinect Going Beyond Games

Kinect is the latest fruit from the R&D Microsoft has been putting into developing natural user interfaces. While the Nintendo Wii allowed users to interact with videogames using typical gestures and motions, Kinect takes things a step further by doing away with the controller entirely and using body motions instead.

Although videogames aren't within the purview of the typical solution provider, Microsoft partners have long seen themselves playing the role of creative pioneers for Microsoft technologies and pushing them beyond their original scope.

InterKnowlogy, a Microsoft partner in Carlsbad, Calif., is exploring Kinect's potential in healthcare scenarios, working with customers to design use cases for integrating it into their existing rehabilitative care systems.

Emelie Hersh, InterKnowlogy's CEO, says Kinect could be helpful for patients that can't grip an item with their hands due to an injury, or who are living in remote areas and might not have easy access to healthcare facilities. In this case, doctors could gather data from patients' movements over an Internet connection.

Andrew Brust, chief of new technology for twentysix New York, a Microsoft partner in New York City, says Kinect's motion, voice and facial recognition capabilities make it suitable for biometric security applications, as well as the kiosk industry. "A user could simply walk up to the kiosk to activate it and then gesture through menus," he said.

Microsoft could also use Kinect in its Windows Media Center product to obviate the need for a remote control, Brust said. "Imagine changing channels or muting the sound with a mere flick of your finger in the air."

Some partners see Kinect being used in virtual reality scenarios, speeding learning processes and helping to move projects along faster. "I can see how it can be used to do virtual walkthroughs and driving tests," said Ken Winell, CEO of ExpertCollab, a Microsoft solution provider in Florham Park, N.J. "Imagine a home construction walkthrough on electrical or framing, or perhaps a robust training plan for using hydraulics."

Microsoft started distributing the Kinect software development kit last June, but the non-gaming developer critical mass will take some time to materialize. When it does, and innovative Kinect applications start arriving, will that change the perception of Microsoft innovation?

Dave Sobel, CEO of Evolve Technologies, a Fairfax, Va.-based solution provider, says Microsoft has acquired this reputation not because it doesn't innovate, but because it sometimes has trouble getting its innovations into products and out the door. Another factor, Sobel says, is that Microsoft talks about its R&D projects while companies like Apple keep them under lock and key.

"That's the difference between Microsoft and Apple: We never get to see Apple's failures. I'm sure there are 500 versions of the iPad sitting around at Apple that didn't work," said Sobel. "Microsoft tends to be better about showing off their stuff, but then they get criticized for not innovating."