Microsoft puts kibosh on Kinect for Windows sensors

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Last year when Microsoft announced an adapter kit that would allow Kinect for Xbox One sensors to work with Windows, some wondered whether the company would cease making Kinect for Windows sensors.

On Thursday, we learned that the answer is yes.

Starting today, Microsoft will no longer be making Kinect for Windows v2 sensors, officials announced in a blog post. The Kinect Adapter announced last year does allow users to connect a Kinect for Xbox One sensor — though not a Kinect for Xbox 360 sensor — to Windows 8.0 and 8.1 PCs and tablets.

“Because both Kinect for Xbox One and Kinect for Windows v2 sensors are functionally identical, our Kinect for Windows SDK 2.0 works exactly the same with either,” said Michael Fry, a senior technology evangelist for Kinect for Windows in today’s blog post.

Fry stressed that Microsoft is still committed to Kinect as a development platform for both Xbox and Windows in spite of today’s news.

There have been a number of Kinect for Windows apps developed by coders in various vertical markets, among them health care.

This story originally appeared at ZDNet under the headline “Microsoft no longer making Kinect for Windows sensors.”