Micorosft releases Kinect for Windows

Microsoft announced the commercial availability of Kinect for Windows at this year's CES event.  This is significant for the Digital Signage space for the following reasons:

• With the SDK and PC specific hardware available, DS software publishers can begin to integrate gesture and voice technologies into their applications.  Imagine letting the public interact with ads via Kinect enabled displays.  Expect to see lots of folks waving and talking to DS screens in the near future.
• The people who manufacture PC and flat panel mounting hardware will have something new to sell.  Kinect sensor mounts!   
• This opens up the interactive advertising industry.  What used to be a niche market (remember Gesturetek?) could explode in the near future.  In fact Microsoft licensed some Gesturetek patents for Kinect.  This has the potential to create a lot of "sticky" ads...