Microsoft announced its Kinect for Windows SDK beta on Thursday.

The software giant released 32-bit and 64-bit versions of the Kinect for Windows SDK beta. Described as a “starter kit”, the SDK includes APIs, sample code, and drivers. The SDK is aimed at academic research and enthusiast communities to create new experiences using Microsoft’s Kinect for Xbox 360 accessory. ”This is our first step in providing you access,” said Microsoft Research Distinguished Scientist Anoop Gupta. “We’re excited about it,” he added. Gupta also confirmed that Microsoft is planning a commercial SDK in future. “This is a non-commercial SDK, I think although our intent is to release a commercial SDK, we’re not making any announcements about it today.” Microsoft also launched an MSDN forum especially for the new SDK beta. The SDK supports the following:

• Robust Skeletal Tracking for high-performance capabilities that track the skeleton image of one or two persons moving within the Kinect field of view
• Advanced Audio Capabilities, including four-element microphone array with sophisticated acoustic noise and echo cancellation for great audio; beam formation to identify the current sound source and integration with the Windows speech recognition API also included
• XYZ depth camera for standard color camera stream access and depth data that indicates the distance of the object from the Kinect camera

Microsoft launched its controller-less console accessory for the Xbox 360 across the world in November. The Kinect sensor is a horizontal bar that sits at the base of your TV. The device has an RGB camera, depth sensor and multi-array microphone which runs proprietary software. Kinect allows for full-body 3D motion capture, facial recognition, and voice recognition. Owners will be able to interact with games titles using just their body. Pausing TV and fast forwarding movies can be achieved using a mix of hand movements and voice control.

Download: Kinect for Windows SDK – 32bit

Download: Kinect for Windows SDK – 64bit