Kinect for XBox 360 and Kinect SDK 1.5

Question

Microsoft has recently released Kinect SDK 1.5 and some very neat associated features such as face tracking.

I have a Kinect sensor for XBox 360 and Windows 7 (driver, Kinect studio) do not seem to recognize the device.

Can anyone advise if this is an "operator error" or if SDK 1.5 indeed does not support Kinect for XBox sensor but only Kinect for Windows (I have USB and power adapter for it).

Thank you, Edmon

Answer 1

As Chris Ortner pointed out, the Kinect for Xbox sensor is compatible with Windows 7 for development purposes only - you need to have the SDK installed.

It might be worth checking to see if the SDK has installed properly.

In Device Manager you should see if it has the following:

• Microsoft.Kinect
  • Microsoft Kinect Audio Array Control
  • Microsoft Kinect Camera
  • Microsoft Kinect Security Control

And:

• Sound, video and game controllers
  • Kinect USB Audio

I have read that it is recommended that you do not have the sensor connected when installing the SDK. This is also implied by the msdn article setting up a kinect sensor. I have also read, although unable to provide a reference, having things like OpenNI or libfreenect may cause issues and should be uninstalled before installing the SDK. The link also provides other troubleshooting tips.

One last thing to check, ensure you are plugged into a USB 2.0 or USB 3.0 bus. It is one of the hardware requirements, and I am aware that one of the KinectSensor states is InsufficientBandwidth.

Answer 2

The SDK supports Kinect for Xbox360 as a development device, so this is probably an operator- or hardware error.

Please keep in mind, however, that the SDK must be installed for the Xbox360 version to work - the device is not supported for deployment on machines which have just the driver installed.