geekosystem

Well, the next-gen Xbox reveal event has come and gone. First things first: It's called the Xbox One. Also, Microsoft would very much like you to stop using every other device you have in your entertainment system. As made clear by the event, the Xbox One is definitely being marketed as The One Device to Rule Them All, but I'm not sure I buy into all the hype.

There is a new batch of rumors about the successor to the Xbox Kinect that give the specifics on the updated device currently operating under the name "Durango". The rumors are detailed down to the specs of the 3D camera sensor, but nothing is official yet. The specs being reported seem pretty believable though -- most categories are getting a slight bump in specs, but nothing so crazy as to raise any doubt. Let's look at the numbers.

You know those times when you're playing a video game and Murphy's law comes into effect, resulting in incessant cursing at the screen in the vain hope your swearing will cause some kind of positive change? Of course you do, and so does Dead Space 3 producer Steve Papoutsis. In a recent interview, he's said that the development team at Visceral Games has worked to integrate the Kinect's voice capabilities into the game, allowing players to trigger special commands when they let the swears fly. The only catch, however, is that we won't know what words to use until the right situations present themselves.

Early next month, the 2,000 pound Curiosity rover will finally touch down on the surface of Mars and just doing that will require one of the most ingenious and daring landings that NASA has yet attempted. Now, Earthlings can try their hand at conquering the "seven minutes of terror" with a new Kinect game for Xbox. Unlike the space program, this one is completely free!

When it comes to the idea of futuristic advertising, movies and books tend to present holograms that stalk their prey, calling them by name, following them around, and trying to actually interact with the target as opposed to simply being seen. "NUads" set to come to Xbox 360 streaming video may be a step in that very direction. While they don't involve holograms and won't follow you around, NUads are interactive -- through Kinect integration -- and will try to get you to wave at them starting this fall if you're watching video on your Xbox through one of the many new Microsoft-partnered sources like ESPN or NBC News.

Kinect was an ambitious project from the start, so it's good to see that Microsoft is following through by continuing to support the device and doling out more functionality. One of the big steps was the release of Kinect for Windows, which allowed a whole new crowd of would-be developers take a crack at the hardware, and now they'll have a new thing to take a crack at. After an SDK update, Kinect now has facial-tracking capabilities, so it'll be able to tell if you're enjoying playing with it.

Sure, Kinect is cool. There's definitely something to be said for waving your hands at a TV and actually accomplishing something. That said, the tech can still be kind of awkward and janky, and on top of that, gesture recognition systems and their cameras tend to be expensive, especially considering the general lack of fine tuning across the board. Microsoft is working on another system that might be able to solve the price problems. SoundWave works much like Kinect, but will work by using your computer's built-in microphone and speakers, and nothing else.

Jordan Correa and his wife had a problem. Because they both worked full-time jobs, they weren't able to spend time at home during the day with their new dog Darwin. Instead of painfully readjusting their lives, Correa did what any man with training in robotics and engineering would do: He built a telepresence robot surrogate that he could control from work to play with his dog. You know, the obvious solution.

There is a  Star Wars-branded thing called "Galactic Dance Off" and it's coming to a Kinect near you, that is, if you can't manage to run away fast enough. Before you get too excited upset excited, this isn't a standalone property. No, it's a mode available in the upcoming Kinect Star Wars, a detail that seems to speak volumes about the game's actual content. But it gets even better.

It's about that time in the console generation when rumors start flying around like wild. Many of them make you excited for all the wonderful gaming possibilities the future can hold, others are a little bit more terrifying. Naturally, as "Xbox 720" enthusiasm keeps snowballing, we're going to get a bit of both. For instance, the new Xbox is rumored to be at least 6 times more powerful than the 360, support Blu-ray, and bring a new version of Kinect along with it. The catch? It may not support used games.

Microsoft has announced that Kinect for Windows will be made available starting less than a month away, on February 1. The hardware and software will release in an array of countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, and Spain, at a suggested U.S. retail price point of $249. If you're wondering, GameStop is selling a 4 GB Xbox 360 Kinect bundle for only $50 more than the Windows Kinect, at $299.

Despite being a full-grown man, tape measures are still a source of near unending entertainment for me. Perhaps that's what attracted me to "Tape Recorders," a piece of installation art by Rafael Lozano-Hemmer. In this work, viewers are tracked from above by a Kinect sensor, which feeds information to the motors on each tape measure. The longer a viewer stands in front of a tape measure, the higher it goes, until it finally topples over. In addition to this, the system prints out an hourly total of the time spent by viewers in the space. Friends, this is art that watches you back. See the video, after the break.

Japanese manufacturer NSK has been working on robot dogs for a while now. Why? Why not. The most recent addition to there newest model of the robo-pet is, you guessed it, a Kinect. By having the Kinect mounted on its head, the robo-dog improves on previous versions built in conjunction with the University of Electro-Communications and can recognize (and climb) things like stairs, no small feat for a robot.

It's official, Verizon is teaming up with Microsoft to provide live TV on the Xbox, a first for the console. The rumors were accurate. It appears that the service will work like this: Verizon FIOS TV and Internet subscribers who have Xbox Live will be able to download a Verizon app designed specifically for the Xbox. Yes, it has Kinect functionality. The app will provide users with as-yet-ill-defined "collection" of content in HD right through their Xboxes.

This is a first for the Xbox -- and consoles as a whole -- and represents a step in a new direction for consoles that are trying harder and harder to market themselves as out-and-out media devices and not just expensive, shiny boxes for man-children with disposable incomes who like to get yelled at by unbelievably foul-mouthed 10-year-olds while playing Modern Warfare. Not that that depiction is right, but it does exist to some extent. Having TV content will make the Xbox more like a DVR (or VCR for you neanderthals) and hopefully open up its market. Of course, this all leads to one big, looming question. Why?

Asimo, everyone's favorite humanoid robot from Honda, has learned a few new tricks that researchers hope will make interacting with robots a little bit easier. The first is a new system that adds gesticulations to pre-programmed speech on the fly. Engineers working with Asimo say that since the robot lacks a mouth, the only way Asimo can interact with people is through speech and body movements. Interestingly, the user can define how expressive the robot should be while speaking, so Asimo can move with the grace and tenacity of a master orator or with more subdued motions. Second, and perhaps more significantly, Asimo can now mimic the motions of a human through a Kinect motion controller. This isn't mere copying, though; the movements are tightly integrated to Asimo's existing systems, allowing the robot to adjust his feet to keep him upright while following human movement. For professional breakdancers concerned about ceding dancing to the robots: Don't worry, engineers say that this input method will allow humans to easily teach movements into Asimo, without tediously programming each movement to each joint. Read on below for a video of the plucky robot in action.