Augmented Reality with Kinect: If you know C/C++ programming, then this book will give you the ability to develop augmented reality applications with Microsoft's Kinect. By the end of the course you will have created a complete game.

Rui Wang

$19.99 per month

4.3 (8 Ratings)

Paperback Jul 2013 122 pages 1st Edition

Rui Wang

$19.99 per month

4.3 (8 Ratings)

Paperback Jul 2013 122 pages 1st Edition

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Key benefits

Understand all major Kinect API features including image streaming, skeleton tracking and face tracking
Understand the Kinect APIs with the help of small examples
Develop a comparatively complete Fruit Ninja game using Kinect and augmented Reality techniques

Description

Microsoft Kinect changes the notion of user interface design. It differs from most other user input controllers as it enables users to interact with the program without touching the mouse or a trackpad. It utilizes motion sensing technology and all it needs is a real-time cameras, tracked skeletons, and gestures. Augmented Reality with Kinect will help you get into the world of Microsoft Kinect programming with the C/C++ language. The book will cover the installation, image streaming, skeleton and face tracking, multi-touch cursors and gesture emulation. Finally, you will end up with a complete Kinect-based game. Augmented Reality with Kinect will help you get into the world of Kinect programming, with a few interesting recipes and a relatively complete example. The book will introduce the following topics: the installation and initialization of Kinect applications; capturing color and depth images; obtaining skeleton and face tracking data; emulating multi-touch cursors and gestures; and developing a complete game using Kinect features. The book is divided in such a way so as to ensure that each topic is given the right amount of focus. Beginners will start from the first chapter and build up to developing their own applications.

Who is this book for?

This book is meant for readers who are familiar with C/C++ programming and want to write simple programs with Kinect. The standard template library can also be used as it is simple enough to understand.

What you will learn

Install a Kinect device and SDK packages on your computer
Initialize Kinect with C++ APIs in your own application
Obtain image streaming data from color and depth cameras
Acquire skeleton data and face tracking results for use
Use hand positions to emulate multi-touch cursors and gestures
Develop a Fruit Ninja game with different Kinect functionalities
Study with simple and interesting examples using a uniform OpenGL framework
Find more open source and commercial resource on the Web

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Frequently bought together

$38.99

Kinect for Windows SDK Programming Guide

$48.99

Kinect in Motion - Audio and Visual Tracking by Example

$32.99

Total $ 120.97

J. Swanson Aug 08, 2013

Having a few books dealing with both Kinect and a couple about the relatively new buzz phrase 'augmented reality' under my belt, I was very anxious to read Rui Wang's book. Although I have not yet finished the book I feel confident saying it is a well thought out book on the subject covered.Let me say up front that this is not a complete beginners book - if you are not familiar with the C++ language and how to use the Visual Studio IDE, compiling code and some knowledge of OpenGL, then go and get yourself familiar with them and then tackle the contents of this book, I assure you it's worth it.I consider myself a hobbyist when it comes to my own involvement in the Kinect device. My interest stems from my love of both 3D graphics and computer programming. As for my C++ programming abilities, I consider myself at an intermediate level. I already had the Microsoft Kinect for Windows SDK and Visual Studio Express installed so I just had to add FreeGLUT and FreeImage libraries to get going. The instructions for setting up these libraries, so they are accessible, was well done.It's great that the code is available for download - I think this made trying things out a lot easier. I liked the fact that there is an actual project we work on the - 'Fruit Ninja game' - to see the techniques learned in action. With every thing set up we get right in to coding thereby building our knowledge of the concepts step by step. This is an instruction technique I find works best for me. Throughout the text I see an 'Understanding the code' section which I found helpful. Sometimes the code we are instructed to use purposely does not give the desired results. We are then walked through the method to correct the problem. This is another strong instruction tool I find useful when I'm faced with learning new concepts. At the end of the chapters there is a summary given, and throughout the book we have some links to additional useful information.All in all I like the book. I have not yet finished it (there's a lot of info packed in here) but I feel this is a worthwhile book if you are interested in combining augmented reality and the Kinect device. As of this writing I am half way through the Skeletal Motion and Face Tracking chapter. I will try to come back here and update the review when I finish the book. But for now I have no trouble recommending this book.

Amazon Verified review

James Ashley Aug 19, 2013

Rui Wang's Augmented Reality with Kinect from Pakt Publishing is my new favorite book about the Kinect sensor. It's a solid 5 out of 5 for me and if you want to learn how to use the Kinect 4W SDK 1.5 and above with C++, then this is the book for you. That said, however, it is also an incredibly frustrating software programming book.The first issue I have with it is that it isn't really about Augmented Reality, as such. The way AR fits in is simply that the central project created in the course of the book is a Fruit Ninja-style game using Kinect and with a player overlay. AR seems very much incidental to the book.What it actually is is an intro book to C++ and the Kinect for Windows SDK. This is actually a much needed resource in the Kinect community and one I have been on the lookout for for a long time. I'm not sure why the publisher decided to add this "AR" twist to the concept for the book. It really wasn't necessary.Second, the book's tool chain is Visual Studio 2012, C++, Kinect for Windows SDK 1.5 and OpenGL. One of these is not like the others! In the second chapter, we are then told that the book covers OpenGL rather than DirectX because "...it is only used under Windows currently, and can hardly support languages except C/C++ and C#." Hmmm.With those reservations out of the way, this is a really fine book about programming for the Kinect sensor. C++ is the right way to do vision processing and this is a great introduction to the topic. Along the way, it even includes a nice overview of face tracking.

Amazon Verified review

Dick Mandemaker Sep 22, 2013

This book really is a guide to help you understand how a Kinect works and how to create your own applications in a structured way, using the SDK and libraries. I was surprised how clear this is written by the author!Step by step you are guided to build the example Augmented Reality Ninja-Fruit game. It surprised me how quickly I understood what the author was doing, and the 'understand how the code works' part at the end of each section is a great thing!I have learned how to build a Visio Studio project, in a structured way how to write code, and at the same time getting to know the way a Kinect works. It is clearly explained how data from Kinect (be it color, depth, skeleton, face) is easily captured and used in your application. Also how to control with touch and swipe is easy to learn and apply.So in summary it is the easiest way to start building Kinect applications yourself.

Amazon Verified review

Junie B Jones Aug 11, 2013

Reminiscent of the Wrox Press books, "Augmented Reality with Kinect" takes the reader, step-by-step, through the process of creating a simple C++ "Fruit Ninja" application using Kinect with the OpenGL framework. The writing style was easy to follow. I'm new to C++ but was able to following the code. Book made good use of screenshots, though screenshots of the code within the IDE might be a good addition. I would like to see another publication building on this example: grabbing the fruits and tossing them in a basket, etc. I would definitely read more from this author.

Amazon Verified review

Tinux Aug 09, 2013

This book is a practical guide to Kinect NUI (Natural User Interface). The author in about 100 pages will show how to use depth detection, video streaming and motion tracking in order to develop a simple Fruit Ninja-style game on Windows 7 (or higher) using the Microsoft Kinect SDK 1.5 (or higher) and the C/C++ programming language.I think that it is a nice and interesting example to guide the reader in the development of Kinect-based applications.As prerequisite, the reader should have basic knowledge of C++ programming and some experience of programming real-time graphics APIs (OpenGL) may be useful but not is not required. If you don't have a good C++ coding skill don't worry, the code is simple and well written ;)Chapter One, Getting Started with Kinectshows how to setting up the Kinect software on Windows and introduce the idea of the Augmented Reality based Fruit Ninja like game.Chapter Two, Creating Your First Programshows how to prepare the development environment and how to initialize the Kinect device with C++.Noteworthy, this chapter demonstrates how to create an OpenGL-based framework utilizing the FreeGLUT library.Chapter Three, Rendering the Playerdemonstrates how to obtain color and depth images from Kinect and how to display them in own OpenGL-based framework. Furthermore, shows a traditional way for background subtraction and how to generate a color image form a depth image.Chapter Four, Skeletal Motion and Face Trackingshows how to render the skeleton data calculated by the Kinect SDK and introduces the Face Detection APIs. In particular how to detect a face from the camera and how to draw the parametric face model.Chapter Five, designing a Touchable User Interfacedemonstrates how to simulate multi-touch inputs. How to draw cursors using two hands and how to utilize it to emulate the Windows mouse.Chapter Six, Implementing the Scene and Game Playshows how to make the Fruit Ninja like game. In particular how to integrate the shown code in the prior chapters and how to implement a simple game logic.Appendix, Where to Go from hereIt's a reference for libfreenect, OpenNI and other resources.I personally would have suggested to the reader open and commercial libraries/products compatibles with the framework utilized in this book. (Microsoft Kinect SDK)In conclusion...If you are a C++ developer and want to start to develop Kinect-based applications/games this book it's a good start. ;)If you are interested in Augmented Reality I suggest to integrate it with others books focused on AR.

Amazon Verified review

Augmented Reality with Kinect: If you know C/C++ programming, then this book will give you the ability to develop augmented reality applications with Microsoft's Kinect. By the end of the course you will have created a complete game.

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