Boffins build medical control centre with Kinect
Forceps. Scalpel. Clamps. High-score
Microsoft's Xbox 360 Kinect add on isn't just for gaming. Swiss scientists have used open source drivers to develop a prototype remote control mechanism for medical equipment.
The experimental rig uses both gestures and voice commands, as the following video from the developers, at the Institute of Forensic Medicine at the University of Bern, Switzerland, shows:
You might think all of the actions featured in the demo could be performed more quickly and easily with a mouse and a few clicks. True, but a surgeon in theatre won't be able to use a mouse when he or she is operating.
The Vitopsy rig would allow the surgeon to access crucial patient data while working. ®
Via: Med Gadget
COMMENTS
S*** for gaming?
Have to say I'm having a great time with mine, bought it 4 days ago. My aunties have just had a great game of bowling (embarrassingly beating my best scores :(). And my other half has a great time with it too.
Great for coming home from the office to do something active in the comfort of my own home. Fine, at the moment theres no "hardcore" games, but there's a lot of fun ones :D.
Also probably in the licence,
most likely you are not allowed to use Kinect in a situation where if it goes wrong somebody gets hurt. Air traffic control or nuclear power plants might be mentioned.
MS Sponsored?
Nah, it's just some Uni prost grad project where they are supposed to come up with something that could have a commercial edge to it.
Kinect is easy to do this with because they can take practically ANY existing system, take the mouse away and bolt together a Kinect based interface based on gestures.
You'll see a lot more of this "revolutionary" crap before the fad ends.
MS sponsored promotion ?
Kinect.. i question the accuracy of the system, as apposed to somehting tactile.. would you rely on in say for a surgery or something.. This must be something sthat has been paid off by MS to promote Kinnect..
Two points
1.) Even in the US you can't copyright hardware - that abomination of a law called the DMCA can theoretically (although to my knowledge this has not been tested in court) allow criminal prosecution (not civil, which means the government filing the charges not MS) for hardware modifications that allow circumvention of copyright controls but there is no angle for that here that I can see.
2.) You can sign up as a developer with Prime Sense (the company who developed and own the core tech in the Kinect) and get a reference device from them. I believe it is missing the tilt control motor and the microphone array.
