Xbox One News: Next-Gen Kinect Previewed by Microsoft

Microsoft is relying on the new Kinect to perform a lot of functions for the Xbox One, including being the default way for gamers to communicate with each other and possibly help keep small businesses afloat. Now, Microsoft has released new information about the Kinect in a new blog post, in which they discuss the ways that the Kinect 2.0 is more powerful than the current Kinect and how developers can take advantage of the device.

One developer that is intent on unlocking the new Kinect's abilities is Rare, whose New Technology Development Lead, Nick Burton, is hard at work creating Kinect Sports Rivals for the Xbox One. The game will be able to register a player's movements in much greater detail, and allow for more players to be able to use the device as well.

"Xbox One's Kinect sensor has ten times the power of its predecessor," boasted Microsoft in the blog post. "It can register a fingertip from three meters away, a feat that was impossible last generation, and its wider field of tracking means it can register more players and at closer distances."

This new level of detail can be seen in Kinect Sports Rivals; players will have to use much finer motor movements in order to be successful in the game. For example, the amount a player twists their wrists while riding a jet ski will affect how much the player accelerates while racing. Another example can bee seen in a player's hand placement while performing simulated rock climbing. If players do not put their hands in the right place, then they could fail the game, something that the Xbox 360 Kinect would have a harder time processing. The Kinect will also use it's camera to customize the player's avatar based on their own features, according to Microsoft's blog post:

"If you stand or sit in front of the new Kinect sensor, it can capture your facial structure, hair, skin color, body composition and even expression, and build a remarkably accurate virtual athlete - your Champion - in seconds."

While some gamers are wary of the privacy concerns that have come up with the Xbox One's Kinect, the device is required to stay plugged in the Xbox One, and it seems as though those who get the Xbox One will have a variety of features available to them that will become the norm on the device. After all, since the Kinect comes with the device, developers might as well use the device to make their games stand out on the Xbox One over their biggest rival, the PlayStation 4.