Just last week, a New York based company named Adafruitannounced that they would be offering $2,000 for the group or individual who can come up with an open source driver for Microsoft’s new Kinect. Basically a base-level software that would make it possible to use it for purposes other than its standard XBox 60 + TV usage. The bounty may have been claimed today today. In a video uploaded on YouTube, you can see its motor being controlled by a Windows 7 PC. The software is also shown to be reading data from Kinect’s accelerometer.

Microsoft’s reply to all this:

“Microsoft does not condone the modification of its products,” a company spokesperson told CNET. “With Kinect, Microsoft built in numerous hardware and software safeguards designed to reduce the chances of product tampering. Microsoft will continue to make advances in these types of safeguards and work closely with law enforcement and product safety groups to keep Kinect tamper-resistant.”

The company Adafruitannounced the “bounty” because they believe that the Kinect’s hardware is amazing and it shouldn’t be locked up just for the Xbox 360. There are several limitless possibilities of how the Kinect could be used if the hardware wasn’t locked down as much as it is. Check out the video below:

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[Source: Adafruit,CNET,Gizmodo]

Authors: _GadgetNews

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