Fun Kinection

<Play Test Video>

Play Test Video

After several play testing, we found out something interesting. Many people tried to punch to the side because they feel that the ninjas are passing by. The game didn’t work really well  because of that. So, we changed the punch mechanic.

The First apporach was based on Velocity Statemachine. When there is a spike on velocity, we checked the Wrist position and the distance from the shoulder, based on the thresholds the punches are confirmed.

The problem with this apraoch is was players other movements caused spike in the velocity and false punches declared.Added to that there were lot of false possitves when we measure the distance and the axis.

The second apprach was Colliders. We had plane colliders before players and we were checking the collision of wrist and velocity to declare the punches.We enhanced this by using a curved half capsule to cover all the angled punches.

The issue with this approach is when there is a rapid collision – that is when the users does a fast punch, the collision was nt detected becuase of the rate in which kinect gives Skeletal data and unity update/Fixed update cycle rate wasnt in sync.

Third approach is Raycasting on a collider. Since collision approach failed we used raycasting,Wrist distance from shoulders and velocity as parameters to declare punches.This approach helped to increase the detection accuracy far better.

Head Tracking is…

The images on the screen change by the Kinect sensor camera tracking the location of player’s head. This technology transforms the display into a portal to a virtual environment. The display reacts to head movement as if it were a real window creating a realistic illusion of depth and space.

To understand this concept better, here is an example of head tracking in a video by Johnny Lee. He is using a Nintendo Wii remote. Instead of holding it in his hand, he put the Wii remote in front of the TV and moved the sensor bar. He then mounted the sensor bar on a hat to let it track his head. This is the opposite way of the intended functionality of this technology, but it is only through this clever use that head tracking – or the”Perspective 3D” effect – is gained.

<Johnny Lee Video – Head Tracking with Wii Remote>

BUT, Kinect doesn’t need any controller because YOU ARE THE CONTROLLER! 🙂 Kinect can track the skeleton so it already knows where your head is without a device mounted hat.

<Head Tracking with Kinect>