The device, which was known as Project Natal pre-launch, is now dead.
Microsoft‘s motion and depth sensing camera launched in 2010 to provide some challenge for the Nintendo Wii (which was quite successful back then), eventually selling some 35 million unites. After the first, Xbox 360 version, the downhill came: the second version was initially bundled with the Xbox One (which pushed its launch price to 500 dollars/euros, while the PlayStation 4 was just 400!), but the company slowly turned away from the camera: from 2014, the Kinect could be purchased separately from the console.
According to Co.Design, Microsoft halted the production of the Kinect, and the marketing head of Xbox devices, Matthew Lapsen‘s eulogy was quite short: „When we introduced Xbox One, we designed it to have the best experience with the Kinect. That was our goal with the Xbox One launch, but like all product launches, you monitor over time, you learn and adjust.”
The Kinect‘s technology lives on: Microsoft’s HoloLens and Mixed Reality headsets use it, and Apple’s iPhone X’s face recognition software is also related to the Kinect team. Rest in peace, Kinect.
Source: WCCFTech
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