We have seen 3D Tetris before, as well as 2D Tetris played on Kinect, but not the 3D version of the classic game played with a Nintendo Wii remote while using Microsoft’s motion tracker. Still, a Kinect hacker did just that and posted proof of it on YouTube.
Keysosaurus, as this Irish Kinect hacker is known on YouTube, brought to the world yet another Kinect hack. He did not only use the motion tracker manufactured by Microsoft to play Tetris, but he also included a Nintendo Wii remote in the equation. It may not be the first time we see Tetris played on Kinect, but this still is a premiere, as it has not been done in 3D before. Also, the “augmented reality” factor was not really used for this game until now. The hacker programmed this in C#, with Microsoft XNA and the OpenNI framework. Nintendo’s Wiimote Managed Library has also been used.
As seen in the above video, the player can move the camera around the game area. Panning and zooming are also possible. Cube Textures and SkyBox have been used for mapping the Kinect camera images. The camera moves depending on how the player moves his head. Moving the head forwards and backwards controls the zoom. Moving it to the left or to the right controls the camera angle. The position of the Tetris pieces is controlled by moving the hand. Rolling the Wiimote will determine the Tetris pieces to rotate, in turn.
Considering that this hack was made by a student, it is rather impressive. The bottom line is that Tetris will never be out of trend, as people find ways of reinventing it all the time. This Kinect hack may not impress visually, but it does astonish us in so many other ways.
If you liked this post, please check this Mario Kinect hack and this 2D Tetris Kinect hack.
Via: GearLog
