fadedmarsh2: Kinect Hack Creates Actual 3D Telepresence

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Kinect Hack Creates Actual 3D Telepresence

[Photo: UNC Chapel Hill]Microsoft Kinect hacking just got a little more interesting. There are tons of Kinect hacks now out there since the gaming accessory's release last year, but none of them achieve a 3D effect without the need for types of tracking. However, a professor and student at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's Computer Science department have created a way of making this happen.

Computer Science student Andrew Maimone created the 3D hack for his paper (overlooked by Professor Henry Fuchs) by setting up four Kinect sensors to capture the same images from different angles. Then, using a particular algorithm and GPU filters (for hole-filling, rendering etc), the images can be merged into one 3D image. For video, the cameras go through a number of steps, such as hole-filling, coloring, and quality before meshing the for the final 3D overlay.

Although the hack still looks a little rough, it certainly paves the way for a whole different aspect of creating cool Kinect hacks without the need for adding reference points. Check out the video below to see how the 3D Kinect looks, and keep checking back on Andrew's hack's page to see his full paper soon.

[UNC Chapel Hill via Hack A Day]