Kinect Chapter 4.   Tracking Users in 2D

This chapter was previously labelled as "NUI Chapter 15".

The next two chapters looks at the skeletal tracking features offered by the Kinect Sensor, displaying them in 2D in this chapter, and in 3D (with the aid of Java 3D) in the next.

This chapter's GorillasTracker application is shown in action at the top of the page.

The background is a grayscale depth map, created in much the same way as in chapter 13. The additional features are:

• each body outline is colored;
• each outline comes with a colored 'skeleton', consisting of lines linking the skeleton's joint positions;
• each head has an image drawn over it, which rotates around the z-axis (perpendicular to the screen), so it stays aligned with the head-neck line;
• each body is labeled with status information, including a user ID.

It's somewhat hard to see but the two users in the image at the top of the page have IDs 1 and 2.

The picture on the right shows more of user 1's skeleton.

Downloads

• The PDF file for the draft chapter (328 KB). Last updated: 22nd December 2011.
  I fixed Figures 5 and 9 so the left and right sides were correctly mirrored.
   
• Zipped code (28 KB). Last updated: 28th February 2012.
  IMPORTANT: the installation details for the OpenNI and NITE software have changed since the book was published; please read the details on the main KOPS page.

• Up to the Kinect Open Source Programming Secrets Index Page
• Back to Chapter 3. A Points Cloud for Depths
• On to Chapter 5. Viewing Users in 3D