I purchased the new Kinect for a birthday/holiday gift for the 'kids'. I was very reluctant to purchase this having never owned a game console. I was afraid it might be a distraction from the kids education. But ultimately I purchased it thinking it would be a fun new way for the family to interact with each other.
I was definitely right on the latter point, and have been very impressed with Kinect. First, the technology and the user interface is great. It does a very good job of seeing all body movements. In particular, one of mine and my wife's personal favorites, is the 'Your Shape' workout. It puts you through quite an intense and engaging series of workouts. And when I'm doing the exercises, it really sees and corrects you on nuances of body movements. If I don't go deep enough on a lunge, or keep my back straight on a bend, the pleasant female voice reminds me.
And the games are great too. I've been playing Kinect Sports and Adventures with the whole family. The kids love it, they get a great workout (really sweating after playing), and we all have a big smile when its done. And I'm enjoying older Xbox games with my son, including Risk and Chessmaster Live.
Microsoft definitely hit a home run here, enabling a new way to interact with technology, and a new platform for exciting new games and usages. I personally am waiting for a real Yoga class :). And I can definitely see this working on your sports technique - proper form for hitting a tennis ball, or hitting a golf ball. But the next step for Microsoft will be refining the fidelity of the cameras and software. I don't believe it can see fingers on a racket or a golf shaft yet.
