Kinect for Windows 1.5 Coming in May

The next version of the Kinect for Windows will be available late May, according to Microsoft. Several new features were announced, from Kinect Studio, a new seated or 10 joint skeletal system. Still available at $250, it is a bit rich for my blood unless an onslaught of Kinect for Windows software is forthcoming. Also, later this year a $149 academic version is going to be released.

Eisler also promised four new languages for speech recognition – French, Spanish, Italian, and Japanese. On that front, Kinect for Windows will also get new language packs that take into account how a language is spoken in different regions – like American vs. British English or France vs. Canadian French.