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by landa 2434 days ago
The Kinect caused a huge wave of innovation. It was a convenient and low-cost source of RGBD data, and many robotics labs got a few when it was released.
2 comments

Could you expand on the result of said innovation? Where would I see Kinect driven innovation in everyday life?
Much of that technology was improved and miniaturized, and incorporated into the Apple Face ID bar at the top of the iPhone X.
Personally I feel FaceID is a step backwards from fingerprint readers. It doesn't work as often for me (facial hair, hat, lighting, hoodie, and sometimes it's just finnicky) and there are privacy concerns. The fingerprint reader isn't perfect, but for me it was better. I can touch it while pulling the phone out of my pocket and it's unlocked when I open it.

I'm frustrated with Google's choice to copy Apple and remove this feature from the Pixel 4. It's literally the only reason I'm not buying one.

What privacy concerns are there?
I guess it depends on whether or not you consider a 3D scan of your face personal data. As face-tracking becomes more prevalent, I'd say this is the worst thing you could voluntarily give away. Your face can be scanned just walking through a crowd in public, a fingerprint is only usable when you physically touch something (and the digital version is always prompted so you can't be identified in a crowd unexpectedly like you can with a face).
I would agree facial recognition in a general sense has privacy implications — but in the case of Face ID I think the implementation is sufficiently secure.
Apple bought PrimeSense (the company behind Kinect) for $360m.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PrimeSense

A lot of early 3d scanners were just repurposed Kinects: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=KOUSSlKUJ-A
I know of MSc and PhD work to use the Kinect as a low-cost alignment system for radiotherapy patients.
I meant that they didn't catch on in the same way say webcams or wireless headphones caught on among consumers.

I have personally built stuff with KinectFusion before so I do know how powerful it is.