You can now use Kinect as a webcam in Windows 10

Microsoft is making big steps towards improving Kinect in Windows 10. In that manner, the company just released the new Kinect v2 driver for Windows 10, which can be downloaded from the Device Manager.

The biggest highlight of the new Kinect update for Windows 10 is that it allows users to use Kinect as a webcam. Once you set everything up, you’ll be able to use Kinect during video calls, or for biometric face recognition for Windows Hello, just like any other webcam.

It has always been possible to do such thing with Kinect in Windows 10, but now it’s easier than ever. All you have to do is to go to the Device Manager, find your Kinect device, check for driver updates, and you’re good to go. As simple, as that.

Additionally, Microsoft also enabled the new UWP APIs, that will allow third-party universal Windows apps to absorb depth, RGB, and infrared data from the sensor. All code samples related to Kinect for Windows UWP APIs are available for developers to download:

“First, by popular demand, the code that Alex Turner used during his Channel 9 video is now available on GitHub as part of the Windows universal samples. With this sample, you can use Windows.Media.Capture.Frames APIs to enumerate the Kinect sensor’s RGB/IR/depth cameras and then use MediaFrameReader to stream frames. This API lets you access pixels of each individual frame directly in a highly efficient way.”

For more info about all the innovations for Kinect on Windows 10, and the latest driver, visit Microsoft’s official blog. 

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