Xbox Kinect - What's Cool (Claire)

    The Xbox Kinect has begun to shape the future of gaming technology. With voice activated technology, a RGB camera, and ability to recognize depth and 3-D perceptions, this device allows for a hands free experience. By playing hands free, players are able to be much more interactive in the game. Instead of pressing ‘A’ or ‘Up’ to have different actions, they can now physically jump or move around and it will be emulated on the screen. This gaming device also supports connections with Pandora, a popular music site, Netflix, and all TV channels to get a complete experience. In comparison to other gaming devices, this Kinect is great for social events. People can get together to play these interactive games together, as well as watch movies and sporting events in a whole new way. Also, this device is connected to Xbox live, which connects users with players from all around the world. This creates an even bigger social connection that would not be possible without this technology.  In terms of physical activity, the Xbox Kinect allows much more mobility than the average game. Players can even perform fitness regimens and have virtual personal trainers. Instead of sitting on the couch, the Kinect inspires players to at least get minimal physical activity. Some parents may be leery of the safety hazards of connecting with strangers worldwide, which is a common concern of much technology these days. However, parents can disable the Xbox live as well as limit shows or movies with inappropriate ratings. This can ensure parents that they can at least take the proper steps to protect their children from strangers. The Kinect technology was hacked and Microsoft used that bad situation to turn around the future of the Kinect. The SDK, or Software Development Kit, is now available for consumers, who can use the technology of the Kinect to adapt in to their own environment. For example, it can now be used as a simulated instrument or for creating avatars. In the medical field, doctors are using Kinect technology to work machinery located outside of the operating room while remaining sterile inside. Also, games have been developed to work with children during physical therapy.  The future of the Kinect is headed in the direction of the creators; the options are limitless. Currently, the future is headed towards educational situations. In February 2012, the software will be available for Windows compatible computers to even further be implemented in the school and work force.  Children can get great views of parts of the human body, and can even use their bodies to simulate things like an analog clock.
    In Maryanne Wolf’s The Proust and the Squid, she urges her readers to understand that

We must teach our children to be 'bitextual,' or 'multi textual,' able to read and analyze texts flexibly in different ways, with more deliberate instruction at every stage of development on the inferential, demanding aspects of any text. Teaching children to uncover the invisible world that resides in written words needs to be both explicit and part of a dialogue between learner and teacher, if we are to promote the processes that lead to fully formed expert reading in our citizenry. (Wolf 226)

In simpler terms, she is stressing the importance of not only teaching reading comprehension but also analytical reasoning. Although video games are not the best for learning to analyze, the Xbox Kinect is something totally revolutionary. Since it has begun to be implemented in the classroom, the technology can be used to teach children how to analyze. Therefore, children will not think of just video games when they think of Xbox. Oppositely, they will think of learning, expanding, creating, and, therefore, analyzing. There is no doubt that the future of education is changing. Thankfully, wonderful programs like Microsoft’s Xbox Kinect are changing education in a positive way.