Pros & Cons
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- Works with Windows PCs and Xbox One S.
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- Two-piece, cable-laden setup.
- You still need to have a reason to use Kinect.
Microsoft has all but abandoned its Kinect sensor for gaming, for the second time. The first Kinect came and went as an optional Xbox 360 accessory that never took off. The second, technically improved Kinect was included with the original Xbox One ($200.00 at eBay) but later removed, and the Xbox One S lacks a Kinect port completely. It's almost a shame, because for all of its flaws and the lack of compelling software, it was a unique device with a lot of potential.
If you still want to play around with that potential, but don't want to use an Xbox One, or you have an Xbox One S, you can still use the Kinect thanks to the Xbox Kinect Adapter for Windows. This $39.99 device lets you hook up the Xbox One version of the Kinect to a Windows 8, 8.1, or 10 PC or an Xbox One S through a standard USB port. It works perfectly well, but its two-piece design is clunky to set up, and you still need to have a reason to use Kinect in the first place.
The Hookup
If you don't already own a Kinect, you can get one from Microsoft for $99.99 (a Kinect/adapter bundle is available for $149.99, inexplicably $10 more than purchasing them separately). The adapter ($24.88 at Amazon) consists of two main components: the USB adapter itself and the power supply. The USB adapter is a 1.0-by-1.6-by-3.4-inch black block with a Kinect port on one end and a USB 3.0 type B and power ports on the other end. The Kinect plugs into the Kinect port, and the USB port connects via the included USB 3.0 B-to-A cable to your PC or Xbox One S. The separate 1.0-by-2.0-by-3.4-inch power supply plugs into the power connector with its own attached cable, and the included power cable connects that to any power outlet. The USB adapter contains a small indicator light that glows yellow when it's powered and white when a Kinect is plugged in.
If you've lost track, that means hooking up a Kinect to your PC or Xbox One S requires two small black boxes and four separate cables: Kinect to adapter, adapter to PC, adapter to power supply, and power supply to wall. It's certainly less convenient than the single cable the Kinect uses with the original Xbox One. This appears to be because of the Kinect's power demands; the larger Kinect connector carries the electricity necessary to run all of its sensors, which a single USB 3.0 cable must not be able to handle. This doesn't explain why the power supply is separate from the adapter, however; building both into one larger adapter would have significantly reduced the cable clutter.
Kinect on Windows
I hooked up the Kinect to a Dell Latitude 13 ($499.99 at PCMag Shop) running Windows 10 ($139.00 at Microsoft Store) easily. I plugged in the adapters and the notebook automatically detected and installed the drivers to the camera. The camera's microphone appeared as a recording device, but I couldn't switch away from the notebook's built-in front-facing camera to the Kinect in Skype or any other video chat or photo booth program. Using a $100 sensor and a $40 adapter for video calls is overkill, but the option would have been nice.At that point I was left with a dearth of things to actually do with the Kinect. Windows didn't prompt me to set up the same sort of Kinect integration the Xbox One offers, but it did install a 3D scanning program that uses the sensor. The software is very finicky and it was difficult to scan anything, and the scans themselves aren't particularly detailed or even accurate. However, these are faults of the software and not of the adapter. The adapter worked perfectly.
Outside of the first-party scanning app, you won't find many things to easily do with the Kinect. Some small third-party developers and open-source projects are exploring what can be done with the Kinect on Windows, but none of it seems particularly accessible or simple to use. As for games, Microsoft has failed to offer a really compelling game for use with the Kinect after two Xbox generations. Basically, don't expect to do a lot of interesting things with it on your PC unless you're willing to do some pretty hefty development or experimental footwork first.
Kinect on Xbox One S
It's called the Kinect Adapter for Windows, but an unexpected benefit of the device is that it lets you hook up a Kinect to the Xbox One S. The smaller version of the Xbox One lacks a Kinect port, but I was able to add a Kinect over USB using the adapter. Once plugged in, it registered on the system and I could activate all of the facial recognition and voice control features that make it seem at least somewhat useful.Conclusions
The Microsoft Kinect Adapter works as described, but it can't overcome the problems of the Kinect itself. Unless you're a developer or very interested in experimenting with 3D scanning and camera hacking, there simply isn't much to do with Kinect on Windows. It's nice to have the option to use the Kinect with an Xbox One S, but that's the most consumer-friendly application of the adapter there is (and even then, there isn't a lot of use for the Kinect on the Xbox One S to begin with, which is why Microsoft dropped it). The two-piece design also invites cable nests, but that's a minor complaint against the fundamental issue Kinect itself has. Like any hardware adapter, the ability to hook up an obscure accessory to your PC is always a welcome option, but it isn't one that many will find any need to take advantage of.
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