This week of research has been held up and on delay because of a delivery issue. I purchased a Kinect v2 that has all the accessories required to run on the PC. Unfortunately, it was shipped across to the other side of the country. As I write this, I should be receiving the items tomorrow, 9/19/18.
Nevertheless, I decided to create a Unity project and started importing the required plugins. I also installed the Kinect SDK for Windows 10. I got it all imported and installed without a hitch.
I did see an issue about a script called joints as Unity has a script the same name. It shouldn’t be an issue to update the scripts and the calls. Unity did want to update the plugin scripts using deprecated calls. I let Unity do its thing. Hopefully, I don’t regret doing that. I opened an example scene and ran it. Of course, it ran but it didn’t throw an error! Be that good or bad news, who knows until I plug the device in.
FYI – anyone that has Kinect running on a computer or laptop that switches gpus, by default when rebooting/starting Windows 10, it will always switch on the dedicated GPU. Without the NVIDIA notification icon, I would be wondering why my fans are constantly running and battery life that is trash. Easy fix is to end the tasks in the task manager. I haven’t found a way to stop it from being started by default. I will have to look at it some more but I fear if I mess with, I will cause more harm then good at this point. So I am going to hold off until I can test the Kinect.
I am excited to play around with the Kinect. Not only because of the project but also to expand the use of the device. I am curious if I can create animations using it as well as scan objects. If so, I want to use some of the features to help build the art around my project to help speed up the production.
Barber Shop Video
I remember something like this video at Disney World Hollywood Studios. It was called “Sounds Dangerous! Starring Drew Carey”. It was closed in 2012 and replaced by numerous different shows but the audio show had the same idea about the binaural audio. It used Dolby as the audio driver. Essentially, you watch a video while having a headset on. The lights would turn off and the audio show begins. There is a part where Drew Carey goes to the barber and he gets a haircut. The video felt and sounded the same as I remember the show did.
In the video where they put a bag over the microphones, I felt like there was a bag on my head. I started to panic and opened my eyes. I am surprised how well the illusion works. The buzz cutters sound sounds life like as well. I am curious how many games and movies use this audio technique. I feel like it would create a better immersion into their worlds. Would it work with a surround sound system or only with headphones?
Meow Wolf
Meow Wolf is an interesting place. At first, it looked underground and run down but now they have expanded so much! It is quite impressive. I like the idea where they expand to other cities, and have local artist work on pieces of art to display in their “museum”. I use “museum” loosely.
It looks more like a take on a modern “museum”, where the rooms are the pieces with pieces within the room’s world. One piece that was shown was the black and white room. I would have liked to see more of that piece. It reminded me of some comic book or something Tim Burton would make. Another thing that caught my eye was the “doors” to the other rooms. One was a fireplace where you would walk through. Another was a hole in the wall where you would crawl through. I am assuming there are regular doors but experiencing these “gateways” would help create the illusion. The illusion that you are in the art piece. Someday, I would like to visit one of these places. Not only for the experience but to be inspired by these “rooms”.