Today at E3 Microsoft announced a had full of new updates and additional features using the Kinect accessory for the XBOX 360. Some of the features include motion and voice navigation through the menus. Voice search is also mentioned. Another fun feature, scanning real life objects and placing them in the virtual space. Fun and all, but another new, non-Microsoft, Kinect usage outshines all these latest.
Luis de Matos from the University of Beira Interior has used the Kinect as the central sensor for a robotic shopping cart that will follow its user anywhere. Matos gears the concept, he calls wi-GO, to aid the disabled in the task of shopping. In the video, Matos shows how difficult grocery shopping can be for those in wheel chairs. The second half shows the wi-GO, cart, following the same person around just a few feet back at the ready. The Kinect provides the sensors for tracking, and a laptop handles the motion control and processing. The wi-GO has the potential to increase the quality of life for the disabled, elderly, and pregnant women. I hope Microsoft takes notice after all of E3's excitement.
Eavesdropper