I’ve been busy hacking around with Kinect, the Xbox 360 “controllerless controller” I’ve been writing a lot about recently.

Yesterday I got it up and running under Ubuntu, and after that I got a very simple “nearest object” algorithm running on it. Check out the videos below! Also – the code.

Following up from the exclusive Kinect videos last week, here is the unboxing of the Kinect device just hours after it launched in the UK. I’ve had a bit of a play and it is brilliant, but there are all kinds of gameplay and action videos in store for you so I won’t spoil the surprise for you…

On with the photos!

Kinect is Microsoft’s new add-on for the Xbox 360, coming out on November 10th. It is a “controllerless controller” – or a “motion controller”, depending on how you want to look at it. It is in a similar vein to the Nintendo Wii’s controller or the Playstation Move, but with an extra – and awesome – twist; you don’t need to use a controller at all.

To play games with Kinect, all you need to do is place yourself in front of the TV with the Kinect sensor device aimed at you, and you’re good to go. Let the extremely complex hardware and software behind the games take over, and just interact with the games in an entirely intuitive and natural way. I’m going to write more about the technical details behind Kinect in another post, for the Robotics nerds out there!

So below I’ve embedded two videos of Kinect gameplay. The first of these is a look at a bit of in-game footage, some explanation as to how Kinect is to use and play with, and a tiny bit of technical detail (not much I promise). Following up from that is a video of the Windows Phone 7 competition at #ukpdc10, where @Daniel_Parker walked off with a Windows Phone 7 having run 2x100m.

Last night I was invited along to 1000 Heads in London for a gaming night.

I had already met quite a few of the people there at the recent Geek Quiz, but there was a load of new people to meet as well which was great. Add to that a big stack of free pizza, beer, gaming-themed cupcakes, the world cup on a big screen and just about every game console I could remember, and it was a pretty epic night.

Sadly my Mario Kart skills weren’t quite up to scratch, failing to make the final of the competition, but that was more than made up for by some seriously entertaining gaming, conversation and laughs with everyone there.

Check out the short video I took the opportunity of shooting below – pictures to follow.

One gift I was very happy to receive at Christmas was the Xbox 360 Wireless Steering Wheel. Quite a few people have asked me what it’s like, so here’s a brief look at it.

Xbox 360 Wireless Steering Wheel In Action