Earlier this year, Microsoft announced a project called Kinect Accelerator. The idea was that Microsoft would pick 10 startup companies that would develop software and products made to work on the Kinect motion gesture-capture technology. In April, Microsoft announced which companies they picked to participate in the Kinect Accelerator program. As it turns out, Microsoft decided to add one more startup to the mix, bringing the total to 11 instead of 10.
The 11 startups headed to Seattle and worked for three months on their Kinect-based projects. While there, they received office space, an Xbox development kit, the Windows Kinect SDK and $20,000 for their initial software investment. While the teams developed their Kinect applications, they also received advice from Microsoft representatives.
This past week, Microsoft held the final event for this program, the Microsoft Accelerator for Kinect Demo Day. The event, as reported by the Next at Microsoft blog, had all 11 startups show off their creations in front of represenatives from over 100 venture capital firms.
One of the products included in the demo day used Kinect as the basis for a new 3D printing effort, while another was designed to help people try on virtual versions of clothes in a store before trying on the real thing. Yet another will let people use a 3D model of the inside of their home to see how new furiture might look and fit inside.
There's no word in the article if any of these projects have received funding yet, but it's clear there are a ton of ideas being generated by Kinect developers that could see the light of day as real commercial products.
Source: Next at Microsoft
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