kx@rip.ax.lt

PCMAG.com
http://sn.im/Kinect1

Despite what you may have read, it turns out that the Kinect — and
Microsoft by extension — doesn't favor one race over another. Tech
journalists just like to write sensational headlines sometimes.

One of the more ridiculous stories surrounding Microsoft's Kinect
for Xbox 360 launch (Amazon: http://sn.im/kinect2 ) asserted that
because the system's sensor had some trouble recognizing two dark-
skinned users that it was 'racist.'

It all started with GameSpot reporting that while testing the
Kinect, two of its dark-skinned employees had problems with the
system's facial recognition. According to the site:

"The system recognized one employee inconsistently, while it was
never able to properly identify the other despite repeated
calibration attempts. However, Kinect had no problems identifying a
third dark-skinned GameSpot employee, recognizing his face after a
single calibration. Lighter-skinned employees were also
consistently picked up on the first try."

Racism? Doesn't exactly sound like it.

And GameSpot didn't use the word 'racist' in its blog post. It was
stories from the likes of Crunchgear, The Daily Beast, PC World,
and others that flat out asked: "Is Microsoft Kinect Racist?"

The PC World story ran with a photo of several African American
children holding Kinect boxes with a caption that read: "Will all
these kids be able to use the facial recognition features of
Microsoft's Xbox 360 Kinect accessory?"

Oh brother.

Consumer Reports followed up debunking the racism claims with a
blog post and video asserting that the problem wasn't with users
skin color, but with darker lighting conditions.

Microsoft agreed. "Kinect works with people of all skin tones. And
just like a camera, optimal lighting is best. Anyone experiencing
issues with facial recognition should adjust their lighting
settings, as instructed in the Kinect Tuner," the company said.

Here at PCMag we can corroborate: Our African-American reviewer
gave the Kinect a 4-out-of-5-star review and an Editors' Choice
award. In the tests for our Microsoft Kinect review, we had no
facial-recognition problems. In fact, the system's impeccable
recognition and motion-control abilities were a major contributor
to our positive review.

Now, can we stop accusing inanimate objects and the companies who
make them of discrimination and just get back to playing Dance
Central?

Evil Eric Holder, Black Racist

On Sat, 6 Nov 2010 16:00:21 +0100 (CET), kx@rip.ax.lt wrote:

>PCMAG.com
>http://sn.im/Kinect1
>
>Despite what you may have read, it turns out that the Kinect — and
>Microsoft by extension — doesn't favor one race over another. Tech
>journalists just like to write sensational headlines sometimes.

The only institutional racism today is directed against whites in the
form of racial preference programs for minority groups.

RickMerrill

kx@rip.ax.lt wrote:
> PCMAG.com
> http://sn.im/Kinect1
>
> Despite what you may have read, it turns out that the Kinect — and
> Microsoft by extension — doesn't favor one race over another. Tech
> journalists just like to write sensational headlines sometimes.
>
> One of the more ridiculous stories surrounding Microsoft's Kinect
> for Xbox 360 launch (Amazon: http://sn.im/kinect2 ) asserted that
> because the system's sensor had some trouble recognizing two dark-
> skinned users that it was 'racist.'
>
> It all started with GameSpot reporting that while testing the
> Kinect, two of its dark-skinned employees had problems with the
> system's facial recognition. According to the site:
>
> "The system recognized one employee inconsistently, while it was
> never able to properly identify the other despite repeated
> calibration attempts. However, Kinect had no problems identifying a
> third dark-skinned GameSpot employee, recognizing his face after a
> single calibration. Lighter-skinned employees were also
> consistently picked up on the first try."
>
> Racism? Doesn't exactly sound like it.
>
> And GameSpot didn't use the word 'racist' in its blog post. It was
> stories from the likes of Crunchgear, The Daily Beast, PC World,
> and others that flat out asked: "Is Microsoft Kinect Racist?"
>
> The PC World story ran with a photo of several African American
> children holding Kinect boxes with a caption that read: "Will all
> these kids be able to use the facial recognition features of
> Microsoft's Xbox 360 Kinect accessory?"
>
> Oh brother.
>
> Consumer Reports followed up debunking the racism claims with a
> blog post and video asserting that the problem wasn't with users
> skin color, but with darker lighting conditions.
>
> Microsoft agreed. "Kinect works with people of all skin tones. And
> just like a camera, optimal lighting is best. Anyone experiencing
> issues with facial recognition should adjust their lighting
> settings, as instructed in the Kinect Tuner," the company said.
>
> Here at PCMag we can corroborate: Our African-American reviewer
> gave the Kinect a 4-out-of-5-star review and an Editors' Choice
> award. In the tests for our Microsoft Kinect review, we had no
> facial-recognition problems. In fact, the system's impeccable
> recognition and motion-control abilities were a major contributor
> to our positive review.

In-Store tests have amazing lighting, but at-home not many people have florescent
lights all over the ceiling ;-) You need to add a small lamp to
light up the players.