Gadgets

Kinect Hack Lets You Juggle Virtual Balls, Doesn't Make Up for Lack of Skills

I can't juggle, thanks to my lousy hand-eye coordination. But if you can juggle, this Kinect hack looks like a fun diversion. Created by a Google Code user named Tom, the Kinect Juggle hack lets you, well, juggle using virtual, augmented-reality balls.

According to Tom's Google Code page, his hack is based on the earlier Kinect-kamehameha hack that lets you "throw" energy balls as if you were in Dragonball-Z (we covered this hack back in February). Using the OpenNI development kit this hack can track your hand movement, letting you catch and throw virtual balls. As shown in the YouTuber video (after the jump), you can add balls by placing your hands behind your back.

Impressive! We've said it before, but if this is what's possible with unofficial programming tools, we can't wait to see what people will come up with when Microsoft's Kinect SDK goes final. If you've got a Kinect and are in a hacking mood, you can get the source code from the project's Google Code page. You'll still suck at juggling, but at least you'll suck at juggling in style.

And check out our Kinect Hacks Compendium for a running list of the various DIY Kinect projects we've covered.

Me? I've gotta go practice my juggling...

[Google Code via Hack a Day]