Kinect's "next evolution" won't require Kinect 2, says Kudo Tsunoda

Microsoft creative director of Kinect Kudo Tsunoda says the "next big thing" from the peripheral will come from Microsoft and developers learning the current unit, not from a possible Kinect 2. In an interview with VentureBeat, Tsunoda played up the idea that there was so much more that could be done with the current Kinect.

"I think that waiting for the next big thing isn't about waiting for the Kinect 2. It's more about all the great invention that can be done in software without having to go out and spend money on a new device," Tsunoda said to VentureBeat.

"I do think that the next evolution of the experience will come as developers get better and better at working with Kinect. I think right now we're in an area where you're going to start seeing some amazing Kinect experiences based on things like using voice or using full body or using identity. And then I think going forward you're going to see a lot more people really blending all of the different features of Kinect together to build some really rich and immersive new types of experiences," he added.

Tsunoda explained that the focus is on understanding how to combine the Kinect's different capabilities to augment existing game genres.

"One of the things that we're super excited about is how you can use a combination of facial detection, motion detection, voice recognition, and tone of voice recognition to allow somebody to participate in a narrative like an actual character inside the scene. So much of how you communicate is through body language and tone of voice, and being able to incorporate those things into an interaction with a digital character is stuff that only Kinect can do," he said.

"I think that's why you see Kinect branching off into all different genres of games now. It's because developers are able to do more with the technology as they've become more experienced in working with it."

"It's not where you have to wait for Kinect 2 for something to be different as much as the more that we're able to play with Kinect and update Kinect over time, all of the capabilities in all different types of scenarios, we're going to keep pushing. I think that, again, it means both the evolution of existing features as well as the invention of new ones," he said.

VentureBeat's full interview with Tsunoda covers more about the Kinect and how developers are reaching out to other genres with the device.