Kinect for Windows Product Blog

Reflexion Health advancing physical therapy with Kinect for Windows

Kinect for Windows Team — Thu, 09 May 2013 18:08:00 GMT

Reflexion Health, founded with technology developed at the West Health Institute, realized years ago that assessing physical therapy outcomes is difficult for a variety of reasons, and took on the challenge of designing a solution to help increase the success rates of rehabilitation from physical injury.

In 2011, the Reflexion team approached the Orthopedic Surgery Department of the Naval Medical Center San Diego to help test their new Rehabilitation Measurement Tool (RMT). This software solution was developed to make physical therapy more engaging, efficient, and successful. By using the Kinect for Windows sensor and software development kit (SDK), the RMT allows clinicians to measure patient progress. Patients often do much of their therapy alone and because they can lack immediate feedback from therapists, it can be difficult for them to be certain that they are performing the exercises in a manner that will provide them with optimal benefits. The RMT can indicate if exercises were performed properly, how frequently they were performed, and give patients real-time feedback.

Reflexion Health's Kinect for Windows-based tool helps measure how patients respond to physical therapy.

“Kinect for Windows helps motivate patients to do physical therapy—and the data set we gather when they use the RMT is becoming valuable to demonstrate what form of therapy is most effective, what types of patients react better to what type of therapy, and how to best deliver that therapy. Those questions have vexed people for a long time,” says Dr. Ravi Komatireddy, co-founder at Reflexion Health.

The proprietary RMT software engages patients with avatars and educational information, and a Kinect for Windows sensor tracks a patient’s range of motion and other clinical data. This valuable information helps therapists customize and deliver therapy plans to patients.

“RMT is a breakthrough that can change how physical therapy is delivered,” Spencer Hutchins, co-founder and CEO of Reflexion Health says. “Kinect for Windows helps us build a repository of information so we can answer rigorous questions about patient care in a quantitative way.” Ultimately, Reflexion Health has demonstrated how software could be prescribed—similarly to pharmaceuticals and medical devices—and how it could possibly lower the cost of healthcare.

More information about RMT and the clinical trials conducted by the Naval Medical Center can be found in the newly released case study.

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Siemens uses Kinect for Windows to improve nuclear plant employee safety

Kinect for Windows Team — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 17:45:00 GMT

As you might imagine, working in a nuclear power plant provides special challenges. One crucial aspect for any project is the need to minimize employee exposure to radiation by applying a standard known as As Low As Reasonably Achievable—ALARA for short.

How this works: Plant ALARA managers work with the maintenance groups to estimate how much time is required to perform a task and, allowing for exposure limits, they determine how many employees may be needed to safely complete it. Today, that work is typically done with pen and paper. But new tools from Siemens PLM Software that incorporate the Kinect for Windows sensor could change this by providing a 3-D virtual interactive modeling environment.

Kinect for Windows is used to capture realistic movement for use in the Siemens Teamcenter solution
for ALARA radiation planning.

The solution, piloted at a US nuclear power plant last year, is built on Siemens’ Teamcenter software, using its Tecnomatix process simulate productivity product. Siemens PLM Software Tecnomatix provides virtual 3-D human avatars—“Jack” and “Jill”—that are integrated to model motion-controlled actions input with a Kinect for Windows sensor. This solution is helping to usher in a new era of industrial planning applications for employee health and safety in the nuclear industry.

"We're really revolutionizing the industry," said Erica Simmons, global marketing manager for Energy, Oil, and Gas Industries at Siemens PLM Software. "For us, this was a new way to develop a product in tandem with the industry associations. We created a specific use case with off-the-shelf technology and tested and validated it with industry. What we have now is a new visual and interactive way of simulating potential radiation exposure which can lead to better health and safety strategies for the plant."

Traditional pencil-and-paper planning (left) compared to the Siemens PLM Software Process Simulate on
Teamcenter solution (right) with “Jack” avatar and Kinect for Windows movement input.

The Siemens Tecnomatix process planning application, integrated with the Kinect for Windows system, will give nuclear plant management the ability to better manage individual worker radiation exposure and optimize steps to reduce overall team exposure. As a bonus, once tasks have been recorded by using “Jack,” the software can be used for training. Employees can learn and practice an optimized task by using Kinect for Windows and Siemens “Jack” and “Jill”—safely outside of the radiation zone—until they have mastered it and are ready to perform the actual work.

"We wanted to add something more for the user of this solution in addition to our 3-D human avatars and the hazard zones created by our visual cartography; this led us to exploring what we could do with the Kinect for Windows SDK for this use case," said Dr. Ulrich Raschke, director of Human Simulation Technologies at Siemens PLM Software. “User feedback has been good so far; the addition of the Kinect for Windows system adds another level of interactivity to our application."

This Siemens solution grew out of a collaborative effort with Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) and Fiatech industry association, which identified the need for more technologically advanced estimation tools for worker radiation dosage. Kinect for Windows was incorporated when the developers were tailoring the avatar system to the solution and exploring ways to make the user experience much more interactive.

"Collaboration with several key stakeholders and industry experts led to this innovative solution," said Phung Tran, senior project manager at EPRI. "We're pleased the industry software providers are using it, and look forward to seeing the industry utilize these new tools."

“In fact,” Tran added, “the tool is not necessarily limited to radiation work planning. It could help improve the management and execution of many operation, maintenance, and project-based tasks.”

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The latest Kinect for Windows SDK is here

Kinect for Windows Team — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 16:30:00 GMT

Yes, it’s the moment many of you have been waiting for: Kinect for Windows SDK 1.7 is available for download! We’ve included a few photos of the key features: Kinect Interactions and Kinect Fusion. Or if you’re a developer, you can download the SDK and get started immediately.

A woman demonstrates the new Kinect Interactions, which are included in the Kinect for Windows SDK 1.7:
counter-clockwise from top left: “push” to select, “grab” to scroll and pan, and wave to identify
primary user. Two-handed zoom (top right) is not included but can be built with this new SDK.

Kinect Interactions are designed to let users intuitively do things like press their hand forward
a few inches to push a button, or close their hands to “grip and pan” as seen here. Now you
can untether yourself and move around a conference room naturally.

In this physical therapy scenario, Kinect for Windows enables a therapist to interact with the
computer without leaving her patient’s side.

Customers can virtually try on merchandise, such as sunglasses, by using business solutions
created with the new Kinect for Windows SDK 1.7. If colors, models, or sizes are not in
stock, you can still see what they look like on you.

Kinect Fusion, a tool also included in Kinect for Windows SDK 1.7, can create highly accurate
3-D renderings of people and objects in real time.

Kinect Fusion makes it possible to create highly accurate 3-D renderings at a fraction of the
price it would cost with traditional high-end 3-D scanners.

Kinect Fusion opens up a variety of new scenarios for businesses and developers, including
augmented reality, 3-D printing, interior and industrial design, and body scanning for
things like custom fitting and improved clothes shopping.

Kinect Fusion opens up a variety of new scenarios for businesses and developers, including augmented reality,
3-D printing, interior and industrial design, and body scanning for things like custom fitting and improved clothes shopping .

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Kinect for Windows announces new version of SDK coming March 18

Kinect for Windows Team — Sat, 16 Mar 2013 23:11:00 GMT

Today at Engadget Expand, I announced that Kinect for Windows SDK 1.7 will be made available this coming Monday, March 18. This is our most significant update to the SDK since we released the first version a little over a year ago, and I can’t wait to see what businesses and developers do with the new features and enhancements.

On Monday, developers will be able to download the SDK, developer toolkit, and the new and improved Human Interface Guidelines (HIG) from our website. In the meantime, here’s a sneak peek:

Kinect Interactions give businesses and developers the tools to create intuitive, smooth, and polished applications that are ergonomic and intelligently based on the way people naturally move and gesture. The interactions include push-to-press buttons, grip-to-pan capabilities, and support for smart ways to accommodate multiple users and two-person interactions. These new tools are based on thousands of hours of research, development, and testing with a broad and diverse group of people. We wanted to save businesses and developers hours of development time while making it easier for them to create gesture-based experiences that are highly consistent from application to application and utterly simple for end users. With Kinect Interactions, businesses can more quickly develop customized, differentiated solutions that address important business needs and attract, engage, and delight their customers.

Kinect for Windows Interactions transform how people interact with computers in
settings ranging from retail to education, training, and physical therapy.

Kinect Fusion is one of the most affordable tools available today for creating accurate 3-D renderings of people and objects. Kinect Fusion fuses together multiple snapshots from the Kinect for Windows sensor to create accurate, full, 3-D models. Developers can move a Kinect for Windows sensor around a person, object, or environment and “paint” a 3-D image of the person or thing in real time. These 3-D images can then be used to enhance countless real-world scenarios, including augmented reality, 3-D printing, interior and industrial design, and body scanning for things such as improved clothes shopping experiences and better-fitting orthotics. Kinect Fusion is something many of our partners have been asking for and we’re thrilled to be delivering it now.

Kinect Fusion enables developers to create accurate 3-D renderings in real time.

The updated SDK also includes an enhanced developer toolkit and additional developer resources, including:

OpenCV and MATLAB Samples to allow developers to build advanced Kinect-enabled applications while using industry standards.
Kinect for Windows Code Samples on CodePlex, marking the first time that select Kinect for Windows code samples will be available through an open-source resource, enabling existing and potential partners to explore and develop new scenarios.

Seeing is believing
We demonstrated Kinect Interactions and Kinect Fusion live, onstage at Engadget Expand. You can watch the webcast of those demos now—and then come back to download the latest SDK on March 18. It’s fully compatible with all previous commercial releases, so we encourage everyone to upgrade to the new version. There’s no reason not to!

As always, we are constantly evolving the technology and want to know what you think. And we love hearing about the solutions you’re developing with Kinect for Windows, so please join us at Facebook and Twitter.

The Kinect for Windows sensor, together with the SDK, can help you create engaging applications that take natural voice and gesture computing to the next level.

Bob Heddle, Director
Kinect for Windows

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Kinect for Windows Academic Pricing Update

Kinect for Windows Team — Mon, 11 Mar 2013 19:10:00 GMT

Shortly after the commercial release of Kinect for Windows in early 2012, Microsoft announced the availability of academic pricing for the Kinect for Windows sensor to higher education faculty and students for $149.99 at the Microsoft Store in the United States. We are now pleased to announce that we have broadened the availability of academic pricing through Microsoft Authorized Educational Resellers (AERs).

Most of these resellers have the capability to offer academic pricing directly to educational institutions; academic researchers; and students, faculty, and staff of public or private K-12 schools, vocational schools, junior colleges, colleges, universities, and scientific or technical institutions. In the United States, eligible institutions are accredited by associations that are recognized by the US Department of Education and/or the State Board of Education. Academic pricing on the Kinect for Windows sensor is currently available through AERs in the United States, Taiwan, and Hong Kong SAR.

Within the academic community, the potential of Kinect for Windows in the classroom is generating a lot of excitement. Researchers and academia in higher education collaborate with Microsoft Research on a variety of projects that involve educational uses of Kinect for Windows. The educator driven community resource, KinectEDucation, encourages developers, teachers, students, enthusiasts and any other education stakeholders to help transform classrooms with accessible technology.

One such development is a new product from Kaplan Early Learning Company, the Inspire-NG Move, bundled with the Kinect for Windows sensor. This bundle includes four educational programs for children age three years and older. The programs make it possible for children to experience that hands-on, kinesthetic play with a purpose makes learning fun. The bundle currently sells for US$499.

“We’re excited about the new learning models that are enabled by Kinect for Windows,” stated Chris Gerblick, vice president of IT and Professional Services at Kaplan Early Learning Company. “We see the Inspire NG-Move family of products as excellent learning tools for both the classroom and the home.”

With the availability of academic pricing, we look forward to many developments from the academic community that integrate Kinect for Windows into interactive educational experiences.

Michael Fry
Business Development, Strategic Alliances
Kinect for Windows

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Kinect Fusion demonstrated at Microsoft Research TechFest, coming soon to SDK

Kinect for Windows Team — Wed, 06 Mar 2013 16:00:00 GMT

Revealed in November as a future addition to the Kinect for Windows SDK, Kinect Fusion made a big impression at the annual TechFest event hosted by Microsoft Research this week in Redmond, Washington.

Kinect Fusion pulls depth data that is generated by the Kinect for Windows sensor and, from the sequence of frames, constructs a highly detailed 3-D map of objects or environments. The tool averages readings over hundreds or even thousands of frames to create a rich level of detail.

Kinect Fusion, shown during TechFest 2013, enables high-quality scanning and reconstruction of
3-D models using just a handheld Kinect for Windows sensor and the Kinect for Windows SDK.

"The amazing thing about this solution is how you can take an off-the-shelf Kinect for Windows sensor and create 3-D models rapidly," said Shahram Izadi, senior researcher at Microsoft Research Cambridge. "Normally when you think of Kinect, you think of a static sensor in a living room. But with Kinect Fusion, we allow the user to hold the camera, explore their space, and rapidly scan the world around them."

When scanning smaller objects, you also have the option to simply move the object instead of the sensor.

The Cambridge researchers and Kinect for Windows team collaborated closely on Kinect Fusion to construct a tool that can enable businesses and developers to devise new types of applications.

"This has been a wonderful example of collaboration between Microsoft Research and our product group," said Kinect for Windows Senior Program Manager Chris White. "We have worked shoulder-to-shoulder over the last year to bring this technology to our customers. The deep engagement that we have maintained with the original research team has allowed us to incorporate cutting edge research, even beyond what was shown in the original Kinect Fusion paper."

"This kind of collaboration is one of the unique strengths of Microsoft, where we can bring together world-class researchers and world-class engineers to deliver real innovation," White added. "Kinect Fusion opens up a wide range of development possibilities—everything from gaming and augmented reality to industrial design. We're really excited to be able to include it in a future release of the Kinect for Windows SDK."

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Mattel Barbie Dream Closet engages new generation of fans and reinforces 60-year-old brand

Kinect for Windows Team — Wed, 20 Feb 2013 22:28:00 GMT

Much like Build-A-Bear Workshop, Mattel has been watching the trends and finding that children are embracing digital media. How can the company keep a toy like the Barbie doll, launched in 1959, relevant in a world where tablet computers and smartphones dominate kids' wishlists?

Once again, Kinect for Windows has proved a formidable ally in bridging the gap between digital entertainment and traditional toys. A six-month project for Mattel, Gun Communications and creative applications developer Adapptor built Barbie: the Dream Closet, which lets enthusiasts of all ages across Australia virtually try on a variety Barbie outfits from different decades by using a Kinect for Windows-enabled "magic mirror." Have you ever wondered what you’d look like in one of Barbie's ball gowns, or as an astronaut, or a race car driver? With the Dream Closet, it's possible. Additionally, you can save and share photos over social media, or even take a photo home.

To build the application, each outfit was photographed on a Barbie doll, trimmed into its component parts, and then reconstructred dynamically on Barbie fans by the custom Dream Closet application, built in Microsoft XNA. The Kinect for Windows sensor and software development kit (SDK) make it easy to accurately determine the size of the user so the virtual clothes and selection menus can be fitted to match.

"If we would have had to write code from the ground up [versus using code provided in the SDK], it would have taken much longer, and the end result wouldn’t have been nearly as impactful," said Adapptor Managing Director Mark Loveridge. "The Kinect for Windows SDK doubled our development speed."

The result of Barbie: the Dream Closet? Increased customer brand loyalty and media coverage yielding more than 25 million impressions, a new case study reports.

"The impact of Kinect for Windows on the public and the Barbie brand is incredible," notes Mattel Marketing Director Amanda Allegos. "Kinect for Windows has given us a new way to reach existing Barbie fans and attract new ones in a way that's contemporary, interactive, and bridges both the digital and physical worlds."

Kinect for Windows team

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New Director, Same Direction: the Momentum Continues with Kinect for Windows

Kinect for Windows Team — Tue, 29 Jan 2013 14:00:00 GMT

Almost two years ago, Microsoft announced its intent to take Kinect beyond gaming and make it possible for developers and businesses to innovate with Kinect on computers. The Kinect for Windows team was born.

Shortly after that, I joined the team to oversee Program Management, and over the past year, we’ve shipped the Kinect for Windows sensor as well as multiple updates to the Kinect for Windows software development kit (SDK). Throughout it all, Craig Eisler has been leading our business.

This month, Craig is moving on to do other important work at Microsoft, and I am stepping in to lead the Kinect for Windows team. I am excited to maintain the amazing momentum we’ve seen in industries like healthcare, retail, education, and automotive. There have been more than 500,000 downloads of our free SDK, and the Kinect for Windows sensor can be purchased in 39 regions today.

Such rapid growth would not have been possible without the community embracing the technology. Thanks to all of you—business leaders, technical leaders, creative visionaries, and developers—Kinect for Windows has been deployed across the globe. The community is developing new ways for consumers to shop for clothing and accessories, interesting digital signage that delights and inspires customers, remote monitoring tools that make physical therapy easier, more immersive training and simulation applications across multiple industries, and touch-free computing tools that enable surgeons to view patient information without having to leave the operating room. The list goes on and on…and the list is growing every day.

We launched Kinect for Windows nearly one year ago—pioneering a commercial technology category that didn’t previously exist. I look forward to continuing to be at the forefront of touch-free computing and helping our partners develop innovative solutions that take the natural user interface vision even further. We’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: this is just the beginning. I’m thrilled to continue the great foundational work we did in 2012 and look forward to a very productive 2013.

Bob Heddle
Director, Kinect for Windows

Kinect for Windows Shopping Solutions Showcased at National Retail Federation Expo

Kinect for Windows Team — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 20:03:00 GMT

Swivel Close-Up, a Kinect for Windows-based kiosk from FaceCake, lets customers visualize themselves
in small accessories such as makeup, sunglasses, and jewelry.

Microsoft Kinect for Windows has been playing an increasingly important role in retail, from interactive kiosks at stores such as Build-A-Bear Workshop, to virtual dressing rooms at fashion leaders like Bloomingdale's, to virtual showrooms at Nissan dealerships. This year's National Retail Federation (NRF) Convention and Expo, which took place earlier this week, showcased several solutions that provide retailers with new ways to drive customer engagement, sales, and loyalty.

Trend watchers have noted significant shifts in how consumers shop—often blending online and in-store investigation by using phones, tablets, kiosks, and computers in addition to good old-fashioned salesperson interaction. Brick-and-mortar stores, which are facing vigorous competition from online resellers, are embracing new technologies like Kinect for Windows to help drive sales and retention—and to delight and surprise customers with fun, interactive shopping experiences. Even better, customers can get more accurate and personalized information about whether a specific product is right for them—whether it's an article of clothing or a piece of furniture—reducing dissatisfaction and inconvenient returns.

"This past holiday season, we’ve seen retailers get much more tech savvy in how they engage customers and offer more flexibility in how they shop," said Kinect for Windows Senior Channel Development Manager Michael Fry. "As the lines between traditional and digital shopping channels continue to blur, retailers must seek new ways to deliver the most value and earn loyalty through compelling, seamless experiences across all touch points with their customers. Technologies like Kinect for Windows help retailers engage customers with interactive shopping experiences that are not only fun, but also increase important bottom-line business results—increasing engagement, awareness, and brand value while making it easier to select the best products for them."

At a hospitality event during NRF, Kinect for Windows partner Avanade showed one such innovation: their "shoppable storefront," created for my-wardrobe.com in Norway. Customers can walk up to the showroom window and—even after business hours—interact with the Kinect for Windows sensor to browse the store catalog, view pricing, and scan a Quick Response (QR) code to quickly purchase the product online via mobile phone. See a video of how it works.

"Consider the possibilities within the store, they're almost endless with a technology like Kinect for Windows," said John Konczal, director of service line marketing at Avanade. "You could build a guide for customers to find more information about products and quickly locate them in the store. If an item is not available, order it for shipment and pick-up at the nearest store. The interactivity, simplicity, and responsiveness of this technology can really help retailers differentiate their stores from the competition."

Avanade also demonstrated Natural User Observation of Retail Displays (NUO), which provides a cost-effective solution for retailers by gathering real-time customer response and behavior. This allows retail managers to do things like determine where customers are spending their time in the store, identify trends, and gather demographic and customer behavior as they interact with store displays. Avanade reports that the solution integrates into existing store and back-office IT systems and provides dashboards and data-rich reporting for improving product placement, marketing effectiveness, and overall display performance.

Another of our partners, FaceCake Marketing Technologies, Inc., which developed Swivel, the 3-D virtual dressing room that's been featured at Bloomingdale's, showed NRF attendees the newest enhancements to their Swivel software. The enhancements, which work in conjunction with the latest Kinect for Windows SDK, include face-tracking and a feature called real-time Compare, which allows you to contrast two looks in a full-motion visualization of yourself in two dresses (or any type of clothing) side-by-side. Sizing is now even more accurate, and FaceCake also added multi-user functionality that allows, for example, a bride to see herself, virtually, in various wedding dresses at the same time as her bridesmaids see themselves in their bridesmaid dresses.

We also featured another exciting new product from FaceCake in our booth: Swivel Close-Up. This Kinect for Windows-based kiosk, which operates within a two-foot environment, lets customers try on much smaller accessories than clothing including makeup, sunglasses, and jewelry. Earrings dangle and twist beautifully as a shopper tries them on virtually, and consumers now have the opportunity to try on a limitless number of lip colors without lipstick ever touching their lips.

"We can now provide an extended Try-On solution that is real-time, 3-D, and full motion as opposed to just uploading a static image and then modifying it," said FaceCake CEO Linda Smith. "The result is a lifelike representation that's just like looking in a mirror—your dream dressing room mirror powered by Swivel and Kinect for Windows! It's both efficient and fun for the customer."

One of the key themes of this year's NRF event was putting customers at the center of retail marketing, something that Kinect for Windows accomplishes readily, thanks to its ability to quickly entice customers into virtual shopping spaces within actual storefronts, making it easier than ever for them to find, experience, and purchase products that are right for them.

"Staying competitive in retail today means putting customers at the heart of the business and seeking new ways to deliver value in the store," Fry said. "A Kinect for Windows retail display immediately puts the focus on the shopper, delivering uniquely personalized results that drive both sales and customer satisfaction."

Kinect for Windows team

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Build-A-Bear Selects Kinect for Windows for "Store of the Future"

Kinect for Windows Team — Thu, 13 Dec 2012 17:00:00 GMT

Build-A-Bear Workshop stores have been delivering custom-tailored experiences to children for 15 years in the form of make-your-own stuffed animals, but the company recently recognized that its target audience was gravitating toward digital devices. So it has begun advancing its in-store experiences to match the preferences of its core customers by incorporating digital screens throughout the stores—from the entrance to the stations where the magic of creating new fluffy friends happens.

A key part of Build-A-Bear's digital shift is their interactive storefront that's powered by Kinect for Windows. It enables shoppers to play digital games on either a screen adjacent to the store entrance or directly through the storefront window simply by using their bodies and natural gestures to control the game.

Children pop virtual balloons in a Kinect for Windows-enabled game at this Build-A-Bear store's front window.

"We're half retail, half theme park," said Build-A-Bear Director of Digital Ventures Brandon Elliott. The Kinect for Windows platform instantly appealed to Build-A-Bear as "a great enabler for personalized interactivity."

The Kinect for Windows application, launched at six pilot stores, uses skeletal tracking to enable two players (four hands) to pop virtual balloons (up to five balloons simultaneously) by waving their hands or by touching the screen directly. While an increasing number of retail stores use digital signage these days, Elliott noted: "What they're not doing is building a platform for interactive use."

"We wanted something that we could build on, that's a platform for ever-improving experiences," Elliott said. "With Kinect for Windows, there’s no learning curve. People can interact naturally with technology by simply speaking and gesturing the way they do when communicating with other people. The Kinect for Windows sensor sees and hears them."

"Right now, we're just using the skeletal tracking, but we could use voice recognition components or transform the kids into on-screen avatars," he added. "The possibilities are endless."

Part of the Build-A-Bear's vision is to create Kinect for Windows apps that tie into the seasonal marketing themes that permeate the stores. Elliott said that Build-A-Bear selected the combination of the Microsoft .NET Framework, Kinect for Windows SDK, and Kinect for Windows sensor specifically so that they can take advantage of existing developer platforms to build these new apps quickly.

“We appreciate that the Kinect for Windows SDK is developing so rapidly. We appreciate the investment Microsoft is making to continue to open up features within the Kinect for Windows sensor to us,” Elliott said. "The combination of Kinect for Windows hardware and software unlocks a world of new UI possibilities for us."

Microsoft developer and technical architect Todd Van Nurden and others at the Minneapolis-based Microsoft Technology Center helped Build-A-Bear with an early consultation that led to prototyping apps for the project.

"The main focus of my consult was to look for areas beyond simple screen-tied interactions to create experiences where Kinect for Windows activates the environment. Screen-based interactions are, of course, the easiest but less magical then environmental," Van Nurden said. "We were going for magical."

The first six Build-A-Bear interactive stores launched in October and November 2012 in St. Louis, Missouri; Pleasanton, California; Annapolis, Maryland; Troy, Michigan; Fairfax, Virginia, and Indianapolis, Indiana (details). Four of the stores have gesture-enhanced interactive signs at the entrance, while two had to be placed behind windows to comply with mall rules. Kinect for Windows can work through glass with the assistance of a capacitive sensor that enables the window to work as a touch screen, and an inductive driver that turns glass into a speaker.

So far, Build-A-Bear has been thrilled with what Elliott calls "fantastic" results. "Kids get it," he said. "We have a list of apps we want to build over the next couple of years. We can literally write an app for one computer in the store, and put it anywhere."

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