Kinect Motion Tracking

Reference material for Xbox 360's motion tracking device

When: 2009

Where: Microsoft

Contributions: Collecting a very large number of reference recordings, Organizing and tracking all collected data

In the early days of Project Natal, now known as Kinect, a massive data collection effort was needed to ensure the motion tracking sensors would be able to understand input for gaming-specific gestures. While I can’t go into too much detail about what was involved, I spent several of my first months at Microsoft collecting data to help make this happen. Kinect went on to earn the Guinness World Record for the “fastest selling consumer electronics device” after its launch in 2010.

"Announced and demonstrated as Project Natal in June 2009, Kinect seems almost magical the way it can 'see' every movement of your body and reproduce it within the video game you're playing."

- Stephanie Crawford of HowStuffWorks