Kinect in an asymmetrical room with limited space?

[Sharp Shard]

Hi all,

I've been mulling over the kinect for a month now, but have reservations about it working in myroom.

I'm hoping some of you early adapters could fill me in on some queries I have before I take the plunge, or not, as the case may be.

My room layout is very awkward.

The room is rectangular with a square enclave. My sofa is at the top of the rectangle and my 50" TV is in the enclave at the bottom-end of the room. The distance from the edge of my sofa to the TV is about 7ft and the enclave has a depth of about 4ft - added to the width of the rectangular area of the room, it's around 10 ft in total and about 6sq feet of exercise space.

Hopefully someone can answer my q's

1, First and most obvious; will the Kinect work in my room in such limited space?

2. Do I have to be in direct line with the camera for it to pick up all my movement?

3. In my room, it would be ideal if I could mount the camera elsewhere whilst I face the TV screen (on a sort of diagonal), will it still work?

4. What's the minimum distance the Kinect can pick up my movement from?

5. I'm 6'3", my other half is 5'3" would it pick up all of our movement in such a small space?

I hope I've explained myself well enough. apologies if I have not. I'd greatly appreciate some input, as I'm getting really itchy fingers about this and would like to get one tomorrow.

 

[silvercue]

to answer your question - I think you will struggle. I was concerned about the width required and although I can play games I am restricted - I sometimes cannot reach for a ball (sports) or plug a leak (in adventures) due to not enough width - you need a lot, especially for 2 players, but even for one.

So I have had to move TV and kinect further to the middle of room which isn't ideal....but it seems to need many feet either side. As you are tall you will need more depth too. Might help if you can mount the device high up though.

You could try and get one from a reputable supermarket, like Sainsbury's as they are far more likely to let you take it back.

 

[Cyclone]

I think what you might find is that although technically it will work, you just don't have the room required to move around.

I'm lucky that I have a lounge/dining room, so just push the sofa back to give me 12ft from the sensor and approx 9ft in width. Now this gives a great area for playing but even with this space when 2 people are playing you can find yourself diving towards the coffee table!

To get the most out of it you need a large area, but if you're playing more on your own (almost defeats the fun of Kinect) then you can manage in more confined spaces, but may struggle on things like Kinect sports (saving penalties for example)

Check out some of the videos posted on You Tube. Seen several people playing in limited space, and although it works you can see how close they are getting to sofas and tables!

 

[Digital Tench]

I've answered what I can

Hi all,

I've been mulling over the kinect for a month now, but have reservations about it working in myroom.

I'm hoping some of you early adapters could fill me in on some queries I have before I take the plunge, or not, as the case may be.

My room layout is very awkward.

The room is rectangular with a square enclave. My sofa is at the top of the rectangle and my 50" TV is in the enclave at the bottom-end of the room. The distance from the edge of my sofa to the TV is about 7ft and the enclave has a depth of about 4ft - added to the width of the rectangular area of the room, it's around 10 ft in total and about 6sq feet of exercise space.

Hopefully someone can answer my q's

1, First and most obvious; will the Kinect work in my room in such limited space? No idea I'm afraid

2. Do I have to be in direct line with the camera for it to pick up all my movement? Yes (it's a camera and need to see you

3. In my room, it would be ideal if I could mount the camera elsewhere whilst I face the TV screen (on a sort of diagonal), will it still work? No - needs to be center of screen and square on

4. What's the minimum distance the Kinect can pick up my movement from? About 4 feet in my config

5. I'm 6'3", my other half is 5'3" would it pick up all of our movement in such a small space? Yes

I hope I've explained myself well enough. apologies if I have not. I'd greatly appreciate some input, as I'm getting really itchy fingers about this and would like to get one tomorrow.

 

[Sharp Shard]

Thank you guys for the replies!

The other half got over-excited in the end and urged me to buy it and come what may once we got it home. Typical - I try to do the studious research and come to a considered decision, and one youtube vid of people playing on a Kinect has her sold!

Will report my findings for those in a similar predicament to my own.

Here goes...

 

[Sharp Shard]

Update for those of you in my boat.

The Kinect has been set up and is at the farthest point in the room possible. The other half has had an absolute wail of a time playing it - I've spectated, and really enjoyed watching her play it.

For myself, being a foot taller, it's been a slightly different story....

If I stand as close to the wall and away from the Kinect as possible, all is well, but if I move forward by a few steps, it does struggle somewhat to pick up my movements. I tend to go 'off camera' when it comes to depth perception elements of the kinect games.

I'll perservere and try and work something out, but for now, it's a 'for her only' machine, really.

If you're 5'7 or below and have an odd-shaped room, you'll probably be OK, but the taller you get after that point, the less chance this will work for you.

If you're 5'11" or more, you'll have the same problems as me, I think.

 

[ozzzy189]

a few have said it works better if the unit is higher up, possibly on the top of tv's. i tested ours and i'm 6'3'', needed to be about 9 feet away, but the unit was only two feet above the floor. packed away for xmas, and i'll try above the tv when we get it all out again ! can't wait.

 

[Dazza Cole]

I don't know why people say it needs to be in the centre of the TV. I have mine on the left hand end of the TV and it's fine - as long as you are directly in front of the camera, I haven't had any issue with it