‘Kinect 2 can lip read’

Microsoft’s second generation of Kinect hardware is so accurate that it is able to read the lips and interpret the facial emotions of users.

That’s according to details from Eurogamer, which has gone live with a host of revelations about Microsoft’s future plans.

It says that Kinect 2 will come bundled with the next Xbox console. The tech is significantly advanced compared to the current camera and is able to sense a number of details the current Kinect cannot – the direction a player is facing, the movement of their lips, expressions of anger or happiness.

It achieves this detail by removing Kinect’s major stumbling block – USB.

At present Kinect is limited in the amount of data it can stream per second to Xbox 360 due to the restrictions of its USB connection. The result is that it has to work with a vastly reduced camera resolution (320×240) to maintain a low data footprint.

The new Kinect will connect to its host console differently, allowing for far greater amounts of data to be exchanged with the console. The result is that Kinect 2 will be able to process significantly more visual detail every second.

Eurogamer has also rubbished rumours that the next Xbox console will be called the Xbox Loop.

Eurogamer understands Loop was the codename of Microsoft’s early motion-sensing technology that predated Nintendo’s July 2008 Wii Motion Plus announcement,” it says.

It was a device that wrapped around a player’s arm, and was said to be more accurate than both the Wii and the PlayStation Move controller.

It was claimed earlier this week that Microsoft will release two versions of the next Xbox console at launch. One will be a paired-down digital-only box and the other a higher-spec, disc-compatible machine.