Kinect R&D examines voice tone and posture

Kinect research teams at Microsoft are examining whether the device can detect the player’s posture signals and tonal nuances, an executive at the company has said.

Studios executive Kudo Tsunoda told MCV that Microsoft is “looking at how we can make people more like actors within a game’s narrative”.

The theory is that, if the device can detect posture and tone of voice, the software will be a step closer to reading the player’s mood and reflect this within a game.

“We want to get to the stage where not only can Kinect detect what you’re saying but also tone of voice and body stance, and work that into the narrative,” Tsunoda said.

“There are some really compelling experiences to be gained from that,” he added.

Since its November 2010 release, Kinect has been tweaked to widen the range of detectable player movements, with Microsoft determined to continually improve the peripheral’s features.

“We’ve been able to do a lot more seated play, let people scan in objects and have the game recreate them,” Tsunoda said.

“Even Kinect Rush scans in players and turns them into Pixar characters, which is awesome.”