Microsoft has confirmed that it will cease production of the ill-fated Kinect motion controller device. Re-sellers will not restock. Let’s look back at where it all started.
Microsoft announces it as Project Natal at E3 2009. At E3 2010 in October, it debuted as what we know it today. It sold close to 35 million units during the production. There was a steady decline in interest in the past couple of years. In 2014 it was unbundled from the Xbox as the hardware package changed. With Xbox S and Xbox One X the dedicated port has been removed, yes you can still get an adapter.
Consumers we concerned with the “ always on always listing “ phrase. At launch, you could get special sleeves to cover up the camera. I find this very ironic that back then we were worried about paranoid about privacy.Today some people have their phones permanently glued to their hands. Most people will not bat an eye of the idea that you could hack those cameras. And believe me, the show will be much better than watching people waving their arms.
For me, Kinect reminds me of dance central and Kinect sports. Herein lies the problem because the weak point is the content and support. Kinect is similar to 3D televisions. When it came out is it was expensive and no one really used it. It suffered from the same Kinect issues as there was just not enough titles available in 3D to support it. With augmented reality and virtual reality taking charge in the new technology explosion, it is inevitable for some hardware to become obsolete.
When all is said and done was it a failure or just launched in the wrong era. Will the technology live past the grave?………. we have our doubts. When you open your new iPhone X(10), think where did the depth-sensing camera come from.
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