Microsoft's KinEtre Animates Household Objects

Ever wanted to make your bookshelf shake its booty just by shaking your own? Graphics gurus at Microsoft Research have a new system that will let you do just that—possess other inanimate objects around your house or even make images of other people move. The KinÊtre project starts with a KinectFusion scan of an object or person and then animates the image using your own body as a guide.

Microsoft presented the project at the ACM Siggraph Conference on 8 August. IEEE Spectrum Senior Editor Samuel K. Moore had Shahram Izadi and Jiawen “Kevin” Chen explain how it works.