Microsoft has launched its RoomAlive Toolkit for developers, which will allow them to create a space where people can interact with content projected on walls. The toolkit is an extension of the previously-announced IllumiRoom and RoomAlive projects from Microsoft Research.
The RoomAlive Toolkit is now available as an open source program on GitHub. It has been made to work with standard projectors as well as Microsoft's Kinect motion sensors. Think of it as a kind of crude holodeck. The company stated:
"The RoomAlive Toolkit enables developers to network one or more Kinect sensors to one or more projectors and, by so doing, to project interactive experiences across the surfaces of an entire room. The toolkit provides everything needed to do interactive projection mapping, which enables an entirely new level of engagement, in which interactive content can come to virtual life on the walls, the floor, and the furniture. Imagine turning a living room into a holodeck or a factory floor—the RoomAlive toolkit makes such scenarios possible.
Of course, buying the Kinect sensors and the projectors is still required. Microsoft's release of the toolkit could allow for some very interesting interactive projects for gaming, educational, and retail categories.
Source: Kinect for Windows blog
