Chapter 6. Human Skeleton Tracking

The Kinect sensor returns the raw depth data, where each pixel contains a value that represents the distance between the sensor and the object. In the previous chapter we explored depth image processing techniques, how depth sensors work, how we can measure the distances, and how each pixel value represents the player information. The depth data gives us unlimited possibilities to play around with Kinect. To build an interactive application and enable a rich user experience, we need to gain control over the application using our body motion. When we talk about how to build an application that interacts with human body motion, first of all we need to capture the information about the users standing in front of the Kinect, and from then on the skeleton tracking comes into the picture.

The complete skeleton-tracking feature is built on the depth data processing, internal machine learning, and color vision algorithms. Using skeleton tracking, the Kinect sensor...