Skip to main content

Digital Trends may earn a commission when you buy through links on our site. Why trust us?

The Kinect might not make great games, but it makes great music videos

as·phyx·i·a
Microsoft’s Kinect camera promised quite a bit when it was first introduced to Xbox 360 gamers around the world, but it didn’t really deliver. There were a few so-so games, but even when it became mandatory as part of the Xbox One, it failed to capture users’ imaginations. Where it does work beautifully though, is when you take its data and turn it into a music video.

“Wired throughout the body, trapped in a dancing mind,” is the description for the new video as.phyx.i.a, from Maria Takeduchi and Frederico Phillips. The video features an ambient soundtrack, with a dancer interpreting the sounds onscreen. However, what you see isn’t the flesh-and-blood form of the dancer, but point data recorded on a Kinect camera — and the effect is stunning.

The join-the-dot nature of the data the Kinect records creates a very strange figure, almost as if a real person were trapped in twine and forced into these strange positions by the mystical string.

Lighting choices, depth of field, and other techniques used by the filmmakers really emphasize what you’re seeing, giving it look that is simultaneously realistic and unreal.

Of course this was not all done in one take. In reality it involved “extensive steps,” according to the creators (via WinBeta). All of the point data had to be combined from various angles and run-throughs of the dance, and the resultant model was used as the “base for the creative development of the piece.”

“A series of iterative studies on styles followed and several techniques and dynamic simulations were then applied using a number 3D tools for various results,” the creators said.

It’s notable that arguably the best-looking media to come out of the Kinect camera arises after Microsoft has begun to wind down its use. The new Xbox One S does not even have a specialized port for it.

Editors' Recommendations

Jon Martindale
Jon Martindale is the Evergreen Coordinator for Computing, overseeing a team of writers addressing all the latest how to…
The best free music-making software
headphones on a Mac

Music-making software doesn't usually come cheap. In fact, for serious musicians and producers, it may well be worth it to pay for a subscription or a steep one-time fee for audio editing and music creation software. After all, the premium versions tend to have more advanced features. If you're just starting out in music production or just feel like you'd rather avoid the hefty price tags altogether, there are free options for music-making software worth considering.

In this guide, we'll take a look at five of those options. Whether you're a Windows or MacOS user, a musician, or an aspiring DJ, you're sure to find a software option that fits your music creation needs on our list of the best free music-making software.
Avid Pro Tools First (Windows 10 and MacOS)
Experienced creators and musicians already know that Avid Pro Tools leads the industry in music production software. This premium music editing and creation software can come with a hefty price. If you're a beginner or just a musician on a budget, you may wonder if Avid Pro Tools is even an option for you. The answer is: Yes. There is a free version (albeit limited in features) that Avid offers. It's called Avid Pro Tools First. Pro Tools First comes with features such as four maximum inputs, 16 MIDI tracks, 16 instrument tracks, and a maximum supported sample rate of 32-bit, 96 kHz. The free version of Pro Tools also includes nondestructive editing, elastic audio, retrospective MIDI recording, and a MIDI editor. It does not have many of the premium features that the paid versions of Pro Tools have, including Dolby Atmos Music mixing or loop record track comping.

Read more
Apple Music TV is a new take on the 24-hour music video channel
apple

If you miss the halcyon days of MTV in its prime, Apple thinks you might want to check out Apple Music TV. It's a free, 24-hour a day curated livestream of music videos, according to Variety, which will also feature live shows and events as well as chart countdowns and guests.

Limited to U.S. residents for now, the livestream can be accessed via the Apple TV app, on the web, and as a new tab within the Apple Music app on all supported devices. Given that the Apple TV app is now available on a huge variety of smart TVs and streaming media devices, there are going to be very few people who do not have access to Apple Music TV.

Read more
What is DRM in video games and how does it work?
Steam logo on a PC.

For the first time since the inception of gaming, digital game sales are starting to overtake physical sales. The gaming industry is soaring in 2020, and a lot of the revenue stimulating the industry comes from digital game sales. Buying digital games is convenient and often cheaper, but it comes with one big caveat: DRM. But, what is DRM in video games? And more importantly, how does it work?

In this guide, we're going to cover everything you need to know about DRM in video games. In addition to giving you a rundown, we'll also cover some of the risks and benefits of using a DRM platform, as well as the pros and cons of buying DRM-free games. Before getting to that, though, let's start with a definition.
What is DRM, and how does it work in video games?

Read more