Get Kinected... in Nederland!

As some of you know, I've done a bit of research with Kinect-related things. In fact, that's what I'm doing now on my internship. But if you look up the things related to the Kinect, you'll realize that there are a lot of applications here and there that people are developing, all over the world.

What you don't see as much (or what I don't see as much, I guess) are the different things that actual companies are doing. Most of the stuff I read about are geeky guys (yes, guys -- it sounds sexist but I have seen very few, if any, girls who write Kinect programs for fun. I don't blame them, I would rather be shopping too.) who are tinkering with light saber apps and stuff. But there are actually companies, like Nissan who are creating applications with the Kinect too.

But I read about this stuff on the interwebs. So what was really neat was when I went to Floriade with my parents, and lo and behold...

Those are three Kinects sitting there. You basically make all the fruits move around by jumping around/moving around with your body, so nothing ground-breaking, but it was nice to run into. It was in the section set up by Israel, which makes sense, because the company that designed the hardware (PrimeSense) is an Israeli company.

Anyway, I also went to the Heineken Experience in Amsterdam this past weekend. Most of you probably know that I don't drink beer, but it was a neat experience learning how it was made. And I learned how (in theory, I didn't actually try it) to pour a beer from a tap. I tried some simulation version but I spilled too much and left the tap running. Hahaha.

The reason I mention it is because... they ALSO had a Kinect app as one of the displays! I didn't take a picture because it was in a dark room but it was pretty exciting. I wonder how many un-internet-ed stories of Kinect usage there are out there...

Well, that is all for now folks. You can expect more Dutchie stories soon... hopefully. I just started my Dutch class today, and I am going to try my best to practice a lot! We'll see how it goes.