Kinect accuracy could be ‘quadrupled’

Reports suggest that Microsoft is working on a downloadable update for its motion camera Kinect that would effectively quadruple its level of accuracy.

Eurogamer reports that the platform holder hopes to make it so accurate that it will be able to detect finger movement and hand rotation.

How can this be done? At the moment Kinect records data at a resolution of 320×240 and at a rate of 30 frames per second. This equates to around 15/16MB of information being sent from the camera to the console every second.

However, the USB connection actually allows for up to 35MB per second to be sent, with an artificial limit currently in place only because of concerns about multiple USB devices.

MS hopes to eliminate this problem, meaning it has plenty of room to up the resolution to something like 640×480, at which things like fingers could be easily detected. The company is said to be working "very hard" on the issue right now.