Microsoft Kinect’s most amazing feat yet: Translating sign language

When it comes to gaming, Microsoft’s Kinect sensor is clearly one of the biggest developments in recent history — and the best is yet to come when Microsoft debuts its all new sensor alongside the Xbox One. But the Kinect is much more than just a gaming accessory, and Microsoft researchers have shown time and time again that the possibilities with Kinect are nearly endless. In what might be the Kinect’s most impressive feat yet, researchers from Microsoft’s labs have teamed up with the Institute of Computing Technology at the Chinese Academy of Sciences to begin developing technology that allows the Kinect to recognize sign language and translate it into text. Development of this hugely important tech is still in the early stages but Microsoft says results so far have been “encouraging in enabling people whose primary language is sign language to interact more naturally with their computers.” A video demo can be seen below.