What is Xbox Kinetic?
Xbox Kinetic refers to the gaming experience offered by Microsoft’s Xbox 360 that is said to be “controller-free”. No game controllers and joysticks are involved, and only movement is required to play a particular game. This “kinetic” way of playing a game on the Xbox 360 is marketed as ‘KINECT” for Xbox 360 and this involves a peripheral device with webcam capabilities to detect player movement and translates this as the game controller instead of holding on to a gadget or device. Using gestures, body movements, and voice commands, a player will have a totally different gaming experience.

Through the Kinect camera, software, microphone, and audioware, gamers will have an out-of-this world experience with the XBOX Kinetic, literally. The powerful camera allows for 3D imaging of moving objects along its view, including the players. And with infrared sensors attached to the peripheral devices, the objects in view are displayed with depth and height variations. The Kinect software or middleware is also able to distinguish body parts and different human faces, so playing the game will be according to your own movement as the camera will recognize which player is in view or not. And with all the bodily movement and verbal cues, the software will translate them into on-screen game movements. So if a player jumps and kicks in the air, Xbox Kinect (or Kinetic) will also display jumping and kicking in the air.

Another cool thing is that the Xbox Kinetic allows for arm movements when navigating the menus, switch to TV viewing or surf the internet. So everything is really based on the “kinetic” way of playing games. Although Xbox’s version of this type of gaming came after Sony’s Playstation Move and Nintendo’s Wii, many people still consider this new product a great improvement in terms of translating body movement onto the screen. Players of Dance Central, Star Wars Unleashed, and Knectimals will have a new gaming experience with the motion-sensitive features of Xbox kinetic.