Kinect Hack: Air Guitar Prototype Makes Anyone A Guitar Guru!

With every hack that is revealed for the Kinect, I get more and more excited about the future. I don’t understand why it took so long for us to understand the importance of the Kinect technology, and why there aren’t more people looking into it (and that’s not saying there isn’t a lot of people doing that already). The implementations seem to be never ending, and with the bright minds of today, I am sure we will see far more advanced and useful applications for this awesome piece of technology. We all remember Guitar Hero, and still play it like our lives depended on it. However, with this new hack, Guitar Hero really feels dated and awkward.

Chris O’Shea, seeming bored with any other guitar game or application, decided to create his very own using the Kinect as base. Using C++, openFrameworks, openCV and a few drivers to interact with the Kinect technology, he created what could only be described as the next generation of guitar game technology. If you thought that Guitar Hero had appeal, this new “thing” is what’s gonna put you in the spotlight on a stage for real, literally!

The work that must have been done to make this work as flawlessly as it does is just inspiring. This prototype really shows off the abilities of the Kinect technology, and considering that it’s just a prototype, there is so much to look forward to. The showcase is not only brilliant, but if you’re not convinced we will immerse ourselves in the virtual world for real, this should definitely change your opinion about that.