VoxCommando
Help and Support (Using VoxCommando) => XBMC (Old board see 'KODI' above) => Topic started by: Foggy on December 29, 2010, 10:23:51 AM
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Hi,
I noticed that you posted on XMBC recently asking if you could collaborate on adding KinEmote functionality to VoxCommand.
I could definitely see some advantage in using both.
VoxCommand to get to a screen view "Show Movies"
KinEmote to scroll through the list.
VoxCommand to switch on/off Kinect or at least stop it from actioning unwanted commands.
Any thoughts on this moving forward?
At the moment I am a Mac user -> Plex. But VoxCommand has made me think about getting a Windows box and trying XBMC with VoxCommand.
Once I am up and running I will definitely down load VoxCommand and Donate - looking through your site and videos - I think 20 Dollars is well worth the effort you have put into this project.
Just had a thought - I could virtualize my Mac Mini :-)
Best wishes
James.
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Hi Foggy,
Yes I'd like to do this. I can also see using hand gestures to tell VC when to listen and when to ignore you. (I think I mentioned this on the XBMC forum).
Unfortunately I do not have a Kinect. Still it should be possible to collaborate. VC (VoxCommando) send and receives commands using UDP broadcasts which are very simple to implement. It currently sends commands to XBMC through the http api, but eventually will be updated to use JSON.
I believe the current kinEmote is written in C# which is the same language that VC is developed in. I was hoping to work with the developer of KinEmote but he seems to be ignoring my posts on the XBMC forum.
I suppose I could try to work with the kinEmote code myself, but without a Kinect device it seems like a waste of time. I don't even have an xbox.
Any suggestions?
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Hi,
I am so impressed with what you have done with VoxCommando.
What would you think if I made my donation = the cost of Kinect only.
Would that stir you to looking into it?
This offer would not obligate you in any way - just a promise that you would try.
Best wishes.
James
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Wow. That is extremely generous of you. Kinect is available at my local Futureshopt for $150 Canadian. (about the same as US dollar at the moment) I would be happy to take you up on that. I would certainly give it an honest go. If I fail, and you pay for postage, I'll send it back to you.
This is the product page: http://www.futureshop.ca/en-CA/product/microsoft-xbox-360-kinect-lpf-00016/10145671.aspx?path=0aebb41cde438f6301c66fefb8c417a3en02
Do you know if I need anything else to be able to run KinEmote on a windows machine in terms of hardware or do I just plug it into a usb port and install drivers?
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btw I just wanted to be clear that VoxCommando will continue to be only for use on Vista/Win7 platforms...
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Hi,
I must confess - I had assumed that you could just plug it in a windows computer and install the drivers. Perhaps we should just double check that before we move on.
Yes - Windows only is understood.
Best wishes.
James.
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I figured you already had a Kinect and that you had already tried to use KinEmote yourself...
I will look over the XBMC forum again to see what is involved. Feel free to do the same since I may not be able to get to it right away. I guess you could post a question there too.
Thanks
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Hi,
I have done so.
http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?t=87663&page=12
Best wishes.
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Hi,
Jonsel answered my question on XMBC - No Games Console needed.
Let me know if you are still on for the challenge and I will donate.
I am out and about at the moment - but will get to it as soon as I can.
Best wishes.
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I am. Let me just take a look at the source code for KinEmote first.
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OK, Let's do it!
If you are still interested... ;D it's going to cost me $170 after taxes. Do you want to use paypal or some other method?
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Cool,
I guess I can just use the Donate button. I don't Have a paypal account. But I assume I can just use my credit card details. Is that Ok with you.
Best wishes.
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Yes I think you can do it direct with a credit card, otherwise signing up for payPal is relatively easy.
Thanks
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Hi,
Done - Donation made.
Please let me know all is OK.
I will get my own - in the next day or so.
Please let me know if I can help testing etc.
Enjoy - Good luck.
Best wishes.
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cool, Donation received. Thanks! I don't think I'll have time to get to the store until the 3rd of Jan though.
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Great, Thanks for the update.
Happy new year to all.
Best wishes.
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Hi,
Just thought I would let you know that I have got my Kinect and installed it.
Control of XBMC does work - but needs some practice.
Just in case it helps.
Downloaded and installed (Without connecting the Kinect)
a). OpenNI Framework
b). Sensor driver
c). NITE Middleware
Then I connected the Kinect and Windows then installed the drivers.
However it does not install the Audio driver - checked on the KinEmote forum and this is expected behavior.
Then installed the KinEmote software.
Best wishes.
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Hey, Thanks for that info. I'm a bit confused though by what you wrote.
First you said: Downloaded and installed (Without connecting the Kinect)
a). OpenNI Framework
b). Sensor driver
c). NITE Middleware
then you said: Then I connected the Kinect and Windows then installed the drivers.
So, do you mean that windows automatically "installed" drivers, based on the stuff that you installed already, in steps a,b,c ?
Also, you don't provide links to the files you used in a,b,c. It would be helpful to have links to the correct files, or if you are just following someone else's directions, maybe you should post a link to them, if they include links to the files. I think I saw some pretty detailed instructions on the xbmc or KinEmote forums, but haven't looked at them in too much detail since I don't have the device yet.
So you have no audio? I thought I had seen on the CI labs that there is an audio driver, but have yet to hear anything about someone successfully using the microphone. :(
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James,
I believe they are the files found at this address
http://code.google.com/p/kinemote/downloads
These files already have the necessary drivers, then connect to the Kinect it automatically installs the drivers.
Wanilton
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Hi,
Sorry for the confusion.
Wanilton has sent the correct link.
When you are ready download the install notes *.pdf (Same link)
Make sure you install the files in the sequence shown
Here is th link regarding the comment about the Audio driver
http://www.kinemote.net/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=11
Best wishes.
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Thanks Foggy and Wanilton,
I look forward to playing with it soon.
It's too bad about the audio. I am surprised that it was not one of the first things they figured out, but I guess the "sex factor" is not as high as with the motion tracking.
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Yes it is - but I think it is only a matter of time.
From what I have read the built in audio system of the Kinect is really good - 4 mics and some impressive noise canceling.
https://groups.google.com/group/openkinect/browse_thread/thread/c3db399d704e3a1b/facddef8e62558dc?#facddef8e62558dc
Best wishes.
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OK. I got it. (I came very close to not getting it because they were officially out of stock when I got to futureshop). Pretty cool device. Installation was a snap, and the Kinemote software works great. The Kinect iteself seems to work well and is responsive.
The flashing green light, although small and not too bright is still annoying once you notice it flashing at you, I can't tear my eyes away! Flash, flash, flash... where's that masking tape?
In terms of controlling xbmc with KinEmote, it is, (not surprisingly), almost totally useless! Even with a lot of practice, I can't see this ever being a good replacement for a remote! If I had not other options, I guess I could learn to make due.
Ok, so now I have to think about this. Maybe there is some way to make this useful if combined with VoxCommando. The hand gestures work OK for scrolling. Trying to use the Kinect when actually watching video is very risky. It is way too easy to do something accidentally, either stopping, exiting, or fast forwarding or rewinding without meaning to. About the only useful KinEmote command that seems safe to use when watching a movie is pause... A gesture that would pause the video and turn VC on could be good...
I will look at the KinEmote software first, to see if I can sent info from KinEmote to VC and back again. In the mean time, if anyone has any conceptual ideas on how the two can be make to work together, I'm curious to hear them. Anyone is welcome to suggest things, but I feel right now, that to really come up with something good, you kind of need to have played with both VC and KinEmote. It is hard to explain. I'm also going to keep playing with it. Maybe I'll get better at it.
the fact that it works at all is incredibly cool!
The gears are grinding, but it sounds like I need some oil...
;D
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James,
Cool report, questions for you:
What driver you used?
The audio of kinect work?
When you have time make a video showing what it could do with Kinect in terms of control of XBMC, even precarious, I would like to see as your experience with it.
thanks,
Wanilton
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I did exactly what Froggy said, using the link you provided. No problems at all with the drivers, except that at some point (I think after I plugged the Kinect in) I got a report that not all drivers installed. There were 3 that installed but an error occurred and the Audio driver didn't install. That was expected. I think the geniuses are still trying to crack it.
I don't know about the rest of the world, but apparently they are hard to get in Canada. When I got to the store there were none on the shelves. I saw 1 in a box on a cart with a bunch of other stuff. I asked a saleman if there were any and he said, "No, two other people just asked me the same question, there are none left". So I asked him about the one on the cart. It seems that it was one that someone had returned, that had not been put back on the shelf yet, so I got lucky.
The Kinect comes with a power supply. No problems there. I think if you have a 360-S you can plug it in directly to that with out the extra power supply.
I can make a video, but it will not be any different from the one on the KinEmote site. Let me see if I can do something more interesting with VC and the Kinemote first.
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Hi,
I can't sleep - so I thought I would spend my time thinking about your comments.
Glad you manged to get it and the install went well.
Just a couple of links for you to keep an eye on - it's all Greek to me but may help understand the development work going on.
http://groups.google.com/group/openkinect
http://groups.google.com/group/openni-dev
LED - Yes it did not take long to start to bug me. But I am pretty sure it will not be long before some one figures out how to switch them off.
Agreed - KinEmote has very limited use in controlling XBMC - other than it being a little cool - But your right, it takes a lot of practice - not cool.
I am going to ramble a bit now.
VoxCommando is much better at getting you to a menu, Go Home, Browse Artists, Browse Albums etc than Hand gesturing could ever be. In other words I know what I want - just go and do it.
VoxCommando is great if you know where you want to be or what you want.
Where I think Kinect could add some thing is in the scrolling - (Not sure what I want but it's here somewhere on this screen / menu) sort of thing.
One of the issues with KinEmote is that you have 2 planes (Back and Mid) and you have to stay in that plane whilst moving your hand for it to operate properly and then push forward to make a selection - its a bit like trying that trick of rubbing your tummy with one hand whilst rubbing your head with the other.
You don't need the other plane - if you want to go to another screen / menu - let VoxCommando get you there.
My initial thoughts are that because VoxCommando will get you where you want to be - it only needs one plane in order for you to "swipe" through a selection.
Example VoxCommando = VC
Where the possible selection is horizontal
VC - "Kinect Scroll Single" - The action would be short swipes to the left or right moving the cursor 1 step - Dropping your hand would end the session.
VC - "Kinect Scroll Page" - The action would be short swipes to the left or right moving the cursor several steps - Dropping your hand would end the session.
Where the possible selection is vertical
VC - "Kinect Scroll Single" - The action would be short swipes up or down moving the cursor 1 step - moving your hand to the right would end the session.
VC - "Kinect Scroll Page" - The action would be short swipes to up or down moving the cursor several steps - moving your hand to the right would end the session.
Not sure about the best way to select - but perhaps just let VC - "Select"
For those that can do the tummy rub thing perhaps a push.
It would be great if the gestures could be screen contextual - in other words if the screen is only meant to scroll one way only allow those gestures appropriate.
It may well be that for Kinect to work properly we need a different skin ?
I do have one request if you can make it work before you look further at the gestures. You may have alluded to it.
VC - Start / Launch KinEmote and click Connect.
VC - Disconnect
VC - Connect
VC - Disconnect and close KinEmote
Or some thing along those lines.
Hope all my rambling make a little sense.
I think when the Audio is sorted and available it may have the potential to release us all from having to make do with our "compromised" microphones.
Just a last comment - Big well done to the folks who created KinEmote - anything said above is not meant to be a criticism.
Best wishes.
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Hi,
Not sure if you can do anything with this.
http://groups.google.com/group/openni-dev/browse_thread/thread/e5f3e861c812b1a0
The read-me suggests that Audio streams are now available - what ever that means.
https://github.com/PrimeSense/Sensor/tree/unstable
Best wishes.
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Thanks for thinking out loud. It definitely help me to think outside the tiny box that is my head. I disagree quite strongly about the idea of your "scroll single" and "scroll page" commands. The one thing that I have found does work quite well is KinEmote's ability to scroll faster if you move your hand further. Maybe you find it too easy to scroll accidentally when you only wanted to move a single space? Probably there should be some ability in KinEmote to adjust sensitivity for things like that. Also if you need to use voice commands and hand gestures to accomplish something that simple it kind of defeats the purpose. As it is you can use VC commands to scroll at different speeds, but because it can sometimes be a bit slow to stop scrolling it is not something I would use unless I had no choice. There is also the command "go right 5" which is actually really useful, once you see what you want.
XBMC provides a certain amount of context information (if you request it) but not nearly as much as I would like, in a perfect world. Of course it is possible that there is more information available that I haven't figured out how to tap into. It might also be possible for a script to increase the amount of information available, but my forays into scripting for xbmc have been very short tests so far.
I also don't (personally) have a problem with the push to click concept on kinect, though you do have to be careful to push directly towards the camera. This is easier if your TV, Chair, and Kinect are all centered on a line. I was pushing to the center of my TV at one point but because everything was at funny angles KinEmote was registering lateral movement (x,y).
I also need practice establishing the location of the mid plan where I want it. I'm not 100% sure what the rules are there.
Yes I'll work on those atomic commands that you listed (connect etc.)
I don't know anything about the code yet, but I can see a two hand solution, possibly being more powerful. Possibly a bit harder to use, but not necessarily, and possibly less likely to make mistakes. I can see moving my two hands together, for example, to "connect" and moving them apart to "dis-connect". Just a thought, or instead of a back back, the position of your left hand could determine what mode the movements of the right hand were in... I also wonder about "gestures" in the sense of actually drawing shapes in space. Simple things like a circular motion, or a figure 8... It may be that Kinect only provides x,y,z and it is up to us to apply algorithms to that info... in which case I'd have some reading to do!
For me the #1 thing that would make Kinect most useful to VC users would be a reliable way to use it to turn VC on and OFF, and mute system volume, to achieve the same effect as raising the Amulet, but without having to hold a remote. Combined with a (hopefully) good microphone array... fingers crossed there.
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I will certainly defer to your judgment regarding scroll - the one thing I am sure of, is that your concepts of UI is much better than mine.
I must confess that I was using my lap top to display XBMC - which was situated to one side of the television - which is where the Kinect was. It may be that if I had every thing - Line of site it would be easier to get the scrolling right.
I hope next weekend I can install BootCamp (Win 7) on my Mac Mini and install it connected to and under the television. It all may fall in place then.
Thank you for your efforts.
Best wishes.
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I don't have a Kinect but thought I would add some past experiences.....
I used to play around with Linux MCE and a Gyration Go air mouse. You could control the MCE app quite easily as the combination of motion plus buttons, enabled you to select, scroll and adjust quite well. Maybe a combination of two gestures or VC+Kinect simultaneously could offer some ideas?
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Hi,
Not sure if you can do anything with this.
http://groups.google.com/group/openni-dev/browse_thread/thread/e5f3e861c812b1a0
The read-me suggests that Audio streams are now available - what ever that means.
https://github.com/PrimeSense/Sensor/tree/unstable
Best wishes.
OOooff. Stay away from those newer drivers. I tried installing them. Not only did I not get audio, I broke my connection to the kinect. After uninstalling everything, rebooting, then reinstalling the original drivers that did work, I am still unable to connect. At this point I am not sure what to do other than move the kinect to another computer in my office. what a pita.
:'( ???
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phew. I got it working again. In case it helps someone I will tell you how I fixed it.
As I said, a full uninstall of all components and reboot, followed by reinstalling as I did originally did not work.
Then I tried using system restore to bring me back to the point where the Kinect was working. This did not work either.
Then I did a system restored to a point at Jan. 1st, the day before I bought the kinect. Then I reinstalled everything, and it works.
I guess I better not break it again, because in the future I won't want to restore back to Jan 1st!
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Whoops - Sorry about that.
I just looked at a couple of the links I previously sent you.
http://groups.google.com/group/openni-dev/browse_thread/thread/e5f3e861c812b1a0/c016a7c14ec8ec24?show_docid=c016a7c14ec8ec24
Perhaps in future it is worth leaving new drivers for a few days to see how they pan out for others.
Best wishes.
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yes, probably a good idea.
So here is a little progress report:
First of all I should point out that I don't really understand how most of this stuff works. For example, I have looked at the code for KinEmote and I have no clue how I would do something that used two hands, assuming that is even possible, but I would think it should be.
I am able to understand enough of the higher level code though, to be able to tap into all the events that KinEmote is generated, and I can read the position of the hand in the x/y grid (0,0) to (6,6).
So for example I can:
- assign an event to mid plane, hand at top left, and use it to turn VC on.
- assign an event to mid play, hand at bottom left, and use it to turn VC off.
this works.
or if I wanted I could simple use:
- hand moving into mid plane (i.e. forward) as VC.On
- hand moving into back plane (i.e. forward) as VC.Off
it should be no problem to send commands from VC to Kinemote as well, though I'm not sure what would make sense here. I could do "connect" and "disconnect", though I'm not so sure how useful that would be.
It's a real brain teaser that's for sure. I think if it's possible to do two-handed gestures that would be more useful. As it is, any kind of movement can lead to trouble...
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Hi,
OpenNI have a new web site
http://www.openni.org/
The Videos in the Gallery, particularly The Warcraft one is rather cool.
Best wishes.
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Hi,
Well I'm glad you are getting some where.
The reason I thought Connect & Disconnect might be useful was.
Connect - Your tutorials show how you can launch a program - but with KinEmote you have to also click the Connect button before it becomes active, I was not sure how to do that.
Disconnect - Only because if you get up and walk away or accidentally do some thing with your hands - you may have unintended consequences.
Best wishes.
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whoa. your name is "Foggy" ?
all this time I thought it was "Froggy" !
I think I've been looking at these bright screens for too long. I'm not sure which I like better...
It would be awesome if the Kinect could read sign language! Just thinking about the heart shape on the open ni website...
If I have a good day tomorrow I might shoot some crappy video just to give you an idea of what is going on...
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Hi,
Not to worry :)
The name comes from Carl Fogarty (My hero) - The great British - World Super Bike champion. I just wish I could ride a motor bike like him.
I liked the comments in the Warcraft video about getting kids fit - rather than having them sitting at a screen & controller all day.
With regard to the 2 hands - This may help you
http://groups.google.com/group/openni-dev/browse_thread/thread/7cb51f1fa3240111
Just turn down the volume if you watch the video :bonk
Best wishes.
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Hey, just a little update on my progress with Kinect and VoxCommando...
I've been talking with Johnny from KinEmote about a unified OSD that will display info from both KinEmote and VoxCommando
Here's an ugly demo of a "proof of concept". Note that the osd does not need to be running on the same machine as either KinEmote or VoxCommando, but it does (currently) need to be running on windows. The code for the OSD is really simple so people could probably come up with their own versions for a different look, or hopefully someone could adapt the code to linux etc.
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/514879/video/MVI_0523.mp4
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Cool developments! To bad i don't have the budget (as a student) available to buy a kinect.
My prediction is that we'll probably have to wait for similar camera's with a higher resolution before it'll become really practical, so it can detect hand and finger gestures (giving your tv the finger would shut it down or something :p). Or is the hardware capable of doing that already?
Nice to see vc is evolving! And what an awesome donation foggy :)
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Cool indeed.
It is not just the gestures that might be helpful. I am hoping that when Audio drivers become available we can use the built in microphones.
What I am hoping is that as the sound (XBMC) is going through the windows box any way and could possibly be captured by the kinect internally - it may be possible for the sound chip to effectively noise cancel. Thus a perfect microphone for VoxCommando.
Best wishes.
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This sounds good in theory. On my audio chipset I have something called "accoustic echo cancellation" that tries to do something similar, since it knows what is going out the line out and what is coming in the mic jack. One of the problems is, that although the microphone may know what is being output by the sound card, it does not know a lot of things about what happens after it leaves the computer. For example, what kind of output delay and volume will result after it passes through your amp and speakers, not to mention the acoustic characteristics of your room, and how sound bounces around it before coming back to the microphone. I have actually seen vox pickup sounds from the computer even though the sound on the TV was muted, because it was subtracting the sound from nothing, and ending up with a negative something, which in the world of sound is not much different from the original something!
In any case, I have a strong feeling that even if they manage to get the microphone working, it will probably be with no support for this feature. The only time this type of noise subtraction really works (that I have seen so far) is in the case of a headset with two mics, one pointed at your mouth and one pointed the other way.
On the other hand, the 4 microphone array could potentially be effective enough as it allows the microphone to focus in on a single source of sound. Hopefully this will be you! I am assuming that the width of the Kinect implies that it will be able to do this more effectively than the ps3eye does. Also, for some reason the overall volume level on the ps3eye is very low, so hopefully Kinect will be better in this respect as well.
I personally feel that the only practical way to use the kinect gestures will be with a "wave to speak" concept, although possibly we could do things like say: "adjust volume" and then slide our hand up and down... maybe. It's good excercise anyway, my arm was getting tired during testing... :D
Edit: I really shouldn't be so pessimistic. Maybe it'll work exactly the way we hope. You never know!
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Ive been playing with KinEmote and VC for a while now and I definitely think there are some cool ways they can work together.
From VC's perspective, it will be about switching the program that the kinect sends commands to, or the type of action that you want to do, as long as it makes sense to have a gesture.
For example, fast forward and rewind in a video could have an easy 'scroll' gesture. And the volume adjust up down gesture you suggest would also be good.
But for example, I have a program on my computer called qzoom that allows you to zoom in on whatever is on screen by pressing control and adjusting the scroll wheel (good for browsing the web on tv). It would be great if I could say 'Zoom' (or some other command if that conflicts) and VC could switch KinEmote to direct gestures to that program. Then a nice forward/backward gesture could be used to zoom in and out (or a pinch to zoom, if multitouch becomes available)
I think that VC is already customisable enough to do this (I think, though I have no idea how to do this yet), so it would be a matter of KinEmote being able to remember different commands for different programs and responding to VC's requests to switch while staying in the background.
Can VC send commands to different programs in the background? Eg, if I was playing a game and listening to music though iTunes, would commands meant for iTunes be picked up even though that was not the active window?
Edit - Ive started a thread on the KinEmote forum regarding the idea above if anyone is interested http://www.kinemote.net/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=18
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Can VC send commands to different programs in the background? Eg, if I was playing a game and listening to music though iTunes, would commands meant for iTunes be picked up even though that was not the active window?
Edit - Ive started a thread on the KinEmote forum regarding the idea above if anyone is interested http://www.kinemote.net/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=18
It depends on the program. Most commands like the ones sent to iTunes, MediaMonkey and XBMC are sent correctly regardless of what is in the foreground.
Some commands use keyboard emulation which is sent to whatever has focus. Currently the scroll commands in xbmc are using keyboard emulation but they could be changed to use the http api or xbmc's event client/server.
It is possible to send commands directly to KinEmote through tcp or udp network commands, but KinEmote would need to know what to do with them...
It is also possible to send commands the other way, from KinEmote to VC, which is how I'm turning VC on and Off in the demo.
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just a little Kinect news... or rumour really, that microsoft might support the use of Kinect on windows at some point.
http://news.cnet.com/8301-10805_3-20027872-75.html
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A little more news:
http://www.reghardware.com/2011/01/18/kinect_support_for_windows/
http://www.winrumors.com/microsoft-preparing-official-kinect-drivers-and-sdk-for-windows/
http://www.kinemote.net/
Best wishes.
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If Microsoft releases drivers then it seems likely that we'll get access to the microphone!
It looks like KinEmote 0.4 release is coming soon. I'm curious to see what they do. Assuming that they also release the source code I'll take another look at how to work with it. I think they *may* be using a version of the VC/KinEmote OSD overlay that I slapped together. I gave them the code so hopefully they ran with it. Anyway, let's take another look when it comes out and we'll see. At the very least I'd like to provide you with some extra tools Foggy. If you want a method to auto connect or something like that I'll be sure to provide you with some payback for your generous donation.
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Hi James,
Agreed, Let's hope we don't have to wait to long. (Microsoft)
Yes - it will be interesting to see what KinEmote come up with. In any event I think the Devs (Of all types) have only just started to scratch the surface with it's capabilities and it may be some time before we can see a way of integrating it.
However I am an optimist. I also have patience :-)
Best wishes.
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Hi,
Just to let you know Beta 0.4 is now available.
Will try it when I get home from work.
Best wishes.
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Hi,
No problems installing.
Not only did I remove all instances in Hardware - but ensured I Uninstalled all programs relating to KinEmote, PrimeSence & NI
Annoying flashing green light has now gone and only appears on activity. On standby it is constant red.
The Connect / Disconnect button has gone - it automatically connects on start.
You can engage the Kinect by using the Push/Pull or a wave - I can't seem to get the hang of the wave - so I have left it as Push/Pull.
You can enable a mouse pointer - but I think it is rather difficult to use.
On the camera view, there is an overlay showing where Kinect thinks your hand is - quite helpful - but I would prefer that it was part of the XBMC OSD. I can't see the need to have the camera showing for this - but it does go away when you select an item to play in XBMC.
You can now control the Kinect - Up and down - Pleased about that - I will try fitting it above the television.
All in all a good update - certainly worth taking the time to install.
Best wishes.
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Thanks for the report. I didn't realize that you would have to reinstall the drivers etc. I though it was just a matter of replacing KinEmote itself. Do you know if that was actually necessary for some reason?
I think the trick with the wave may be that you have to do a left-right movement a minimum number of times. Something like 5, (left-right-left-right-left). I can see this being useful in the future if we can have different things happen depending on whether we using a push or a wave to get it's attention. For example, push to initiate kinect scrolling, or wave to make VC listen.
There will probably be a separate overlay eventually with no video, something like the one in my demo video (but nicer) but it is unlikely that it will be an integrated part of XBMC, so you would need to run XBMC in "full screen window" mode. I personally prefer this mode anyway for other reasons, and I think it is the default mode for windows (it always seems to install that way on my machines).
I haven't tried it yet, but the main thing for me is probably the blinking light! Connecting on start is nice too. (I asked Johnny for this feature in our last chat because you had mentioned it to me, but I don't know if that's why they implemented it.)
I probably won't get a chance to try the new version myself until next week. I am going away from Wed. to Saturday this week, and have a lot to do tomorrow. Sadly, this probably means that I won't release the next version of VC until I get back :(
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Hi,
I think that the readme specifically says that you should uninstall the drivers. I got the impression that they had been updated.
Thanks for the heads up on the wave. I'll try that tomorrow. At the moment it is either or, but I guess that could be changed. But I like your idea.
Glad you spoke up about the green light :) Yes the automatic start up is much better. Tomorrow I'll get VoxCommando to start it up although I'm not to sure how to close it. I'll look at some examples in my folder for inspiration.
Best wishes.
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I guess you could try to focus it, and then sendkeys alt-F4
but focus is not always reliable and then you might end up closing something else. I guess you'll have to experiment a bit for now.
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Hi James,
Hope you had a good trip.
I am trying to launch KinEmote through vox - but am having some issues. To name a few
Can't open file
Pink boarder around VOX
Microsoft .Net framework unhandled error. - I have made a copy in notepad if you need it.
Needless to say I'm clearly doing some thing wrong :)
I have tried both
Launch OpenFile "C:\Program Files\KinEmote\KinEmote v0.4\Kinemote.exe"
Launch RawParam "C:\Program Files\KinEmote\KinEmote v0.4\Kinemote.exe"
Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Clearly I'm not ready to give up the day job. :)
Best wishes.
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are you actually using quotes ?
maybe you should send me the actual xml for your commands.
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Hi,
Yes - I thought if a file name had a space in it you had to wrap it in quotes.
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>
- <!-- C:\Users\James Win 7\Downloads\Vox\VoxCommando XBMC - Copy\VoxCommandoXBMC 0_872 JSS\export\Kinect.xml
-->
- <VoiceCommands version="0.872">
- <commandGroup name="Kinect" enabled="True">
- <command id="63" name="Launch Kinect" enabled="true" confirm="False" loop="False" loopDelay="0" loopMax="0" description="">
- <action>
<cmdType>Launch.OpenFile</cmdType>
<cmdString>"C:\Program Files\KinEmote\KinEmote v0.4\Kinemote.exe"</cmdString>
<cmdRepeat>1</cmdRepeat>
</action>
<phrase>Launch</phrase>
<phrase>Kinect</phrase>
</command>
</commandGroup>
</VoiceCommands>
Best wishes.
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well not in this case. That's probably why it is not working.
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Nope - Removing the quotes did not work.
However I put :
cd C:\Program Files\KinEmote\KinEmote v0.4\
KinEmote.exe
In to a bat file and used LaunchBat to run it and it works.
Best wishes.
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works for me no problem with other programs that are under program files, but only without the quotes. Maybe the 0.4 is throwing it off, but that's odd. Anyway, glad you sound a solution.
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finally, someone has created an app for the kinect that is actually useful.
http://danomatika.com/blog/kinect-titty-tracker/
If only this could somehow be put into universal effect at the beach, to cover up all those man boobs.
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http://www.engadget.com/2011/02/21/microsoft-to-release-kinect-for-windows-sdk-this-spring/
Best wishes.
James
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nice to know the rumours are no longer rumours! :D
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apparently you don't need a kinect, just a webcam
http://www.google.com/mail/help/motion.html#utm_source=en-et-na-us&utm_medium=new-features-link&utm_campaign=en
;D
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hehe, good april 01.
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Hi All,
http://www.kinemote.net/
Best wishes.
James
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I don't think this is of any practical use yet, but it is a good sign I think...
http://groups.google.com/group/openkinect/browse_frm/thread/f7cf220127682af2
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Hi All,
It's getting closer..
http://www.engadget.com/2011/04/13/microsoft-details-kinect-sdk-for-windows-pc-promises-robust-sk/
Best wishes.
James.
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woo hoo!
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About this, look this link:
http://research.microsoft.com/en-us/um/redmond/projects/kinectsdk/
Beta test open for developer, in 05/16/2011.
Wanilton
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YEAH! YEAH!
Sound source localization for beamforming, which enables the determination of a soundÂ’s spatial location, enhancing reliability when integrated with the Microsoft speech recognition API.
of course it is just words... we shall see!
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by following Wanilton's link and then clicking something on the right I found this very interesting article about the kinect audio engineering.
http://research.microsoft.com/en-us/news/features/kinectaudio-041311.aspx