Microsoft ‘working on Kinect SDK for PC’

Xbox manufacturer Microsoft is underway developing a Kinect SDK for PC applications, a news report has claimed.

News site WinRumors claims that “Microsoft officials are currently readying an official SDK and Kinect drivers for Windows”.

The website says Microsoft “is set to unveil driver support and an SDK in the coming months and will allow third-party developers to create titles that utilise the Kinect sensor when plugged into a PC.”

An alleged source close to the matter claimed Microsoft hopes to incorporate Kinect support into a forthcoming ‘Community Technical Preview’ of the company’s XNA Game Studio tools.

The software giant’s CEO, Steve Ballmer, earlier in the month said Kinect would be available on PC in due course.

Sales figures have established Kinect as a demonstrable market hit, having shifted some 8 million sensors in two months since release.

The device itself has been an inspiration for the PC mod community. The so-called ‘Kinect hacks’ have repurposed the device for a vast array of applications, from augmented reality devices, to a humanoid robot control system, to a virtual mouse controller, to a Minority Report-esque photo viewer.