South Koreans Using Kinect to Monitor DMZ

The South Korean government is reportedly using Microsoft’s Kinect motion-based game controller to monitor the heavily guarded DMZ (Demilitarized Zone) that separates the country from North Korea.




Microsoft originally intended the Kinect controller as a way to play Xbox 360 games via body movements and voice control. Researchers and tech pros, however, quickly realized that the hardware, if hacked, could provide the foundation for all sorts of non-gaming uses, such as controlling robots or modeling objects in 3D. Microsoft initially pushed back against that reverse engineering, claiming that it would work with law enforcement to stop what it called “tampering,” before changing course and claiming that it had deliberately left the device open to modification.

That early tension between Microsoft and the DIY community certainly didn’t stop the latter from finding multiple uses for Kinect technology. The hardware and software is now used in everything from academia to interactive dressing rooms to protecting borders.


Image: meunierd/