Microsoft: Kinect on Xbox One can listen to two people at once

Microsoft has now indicated that the new Kinect hardware for the Xbox One console can both listen to and understand two different human voices at once and can also see mouths moving in a dark room.

The new Kinect hardware that will be bundled with every Xbox One console lets people start the hardware up just by saying, "Xbox On". This weekend, the company indicated that the Kinect add-on can actually listen and understand what two different people are saying at the same time.

In a session during the Eurogamer Expo this weekend, Polygon reports that, according to Microsoft Xbox technology developer Nick Burton, the sensor can also see if a human's mouth is moving in a dark room. The Kinect hardware can map faces up to to 1,400 points and detect the movements of 25 joints between six different people in a room.

The ability for the hardware to figure out two voices at once could certainly be used in games, especially in co-op titles where two players need to work together. It could also be used for non-gaming apps such as the Skype feature and while watching live TV on the console.

The processor inside Kinect 2.0 was actually designed by Microsoft itself in-house, and, as we found out at E3 2013, the new sensor can measure a person's heart beat. The new Kinect will launch with all Xbox One consoles on November 22nd in 13 markets, and 10 of them will include some voice command features.

Source: Polygon | Image via Microsoft