Microsoft Kinect Team Shows You Optimal Settings For Set-Up [Video]

There's no doubt that setting up to play Microsoft's upcoming motion sensing peripheral, Kinect, will be interesting. Microsoft has released a video that showcases the Kinect development team going over what they believe is the optimal setting and layout for you to truly experience, and enjoy your time with Kinect. And who better to get the information from then those who developed the system, right?

We've always known that Kinect will work best with an open floor plan. That doesn't mean you have to have a living room, or bedroom, that's completely devoid of any furniture, but the less you have, the better. The reason being, simply put, is that the Kinect has a lot of sensors and cameras, and all of those are working in conjunction to scan what lays in front of it. While we know that Kinect can support up to more than two players at one time, the system will still have to work harder to pick you, your friend, and whatever else is going on in your play space in real-time.

The developers also say that you should have an evenly lit play space. So no deep shadows being tossed around, or too much light showing up in another area. No unnecessary clutter, either. As for where you should stand? They say that the optimal positioning for the player(s) is about six to eight feet away from the Kinect unit. They say that you should be standing as far away as possible, but we imagine that that advice could be taken to extremes.

Something to keep in mind, of course, is that these are the "optimal" settings, and not indicative of how every living room is going to look. We've seen plenty of Kinect situations where there's lots of people wandering around, too many lamps, and furniture lying around, with the system still working great, that we don't think you should take this too much to heart. In any event, check out the video below and let us know what you think in the comments.

[via Pocket-Lint]