Salon gives devs tips and tricks for Kinect for Windows

On the evening of May 29, 2015, nearly 100 top developers and investors gathered in Beijing for Microsoft China’s Second Kinect for Windows Salon. This five-hour event presented advanced techniques for working with the latest Kinect sensor and the Kinect for Windows SDK 2.0, and helped attendees tackle complex coding problems. The gathering included developers from Samsung and other companies, those who work independently, and students from such prestigious schools as Beihang University (BUAA) and Tsinghua University, along with investors looking for projects or companies to support.

 Nearly 100 devs gathered to learn about using the latest features of Kinect for Windows.
Nearly 100 devs gathered to learn about using the latest features of Kinect for Windows.

Attendees were especially excited by a demo of the RoomAlive toolkit, which had made its public debut only weeks earlier at Build 2015. Developers spoke enthusiastically about the potential to create immersive augmented reality experiences by using this open-source SDK, which will enable them to calibrate a network of multiple Kinect sensors and video projectors.

A session on 3D Builder also generated intense interest, thanks in large part to the presence of 3D Impression Technology, a 3D printing studio whose representatives answered questions about using 3D Builder, creating 3D scans with the Kinect sensor, and printing out 3D models. Attendees even went home with keychains featuring freshly printed 3D models of the latest Kinect sensor.

 Scans of the latest Kinect sensor (top) were used to print 3D models that were attached to souvenir keychains.
Scans of the latest Kinect sensor (top) were used to print 3D models that were attached to souvenir keychains.

Perhaps the most enriching aspect of the salon was the opportunity to develop new relationships. With such a broad cross-section of the Kinect for Windows developer community in attendance, the salon provided fertile ground for networking, cooperative learning, and recruiting (much to the delight of the students). It also provided investors with leads on projects and companies worth funding. We look forward to seeing some creative Kinect for Windows applications as a result of these relationships.

The Kinect for Windows Team

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