Microsoft announced today that it is going to open up its Kinect gaming peripheral to commercial third-party applications.
The camera has proved so successful that commercial company’s want to be able to create their own apps for the camera. With the software suite going public next year companies like Toyota and Razorfish will be able to use it commercially and make a profit from it.
Apparently there has already been interest from 200 companies who are looking to take advantage of Microsoft’s commercial SDK as part of the pilot program which will start in 2012.
Microsoft has remained tight-lipped on when it will be available, but its been a long time coming and can be expected sooner rather than later.
Of course, Microsoft does offer noncommercial software development kits which are used by developers and academics, who aren’t planning to sell their products. But the commercial launch will finally let companies profit on the applications they create with the help of Kinect.
Microsoft launched the motion-gaming peripheral last November and it been a massive success with gamers and software developers alike – racking up 10 million sales.
After the launch a small community of enthusiasts saw other uses for the camera and created some amazing apps – so impressed Microsoft decided to embrace this community and allowed the SDK to be downloaded for free, so anyone could make apps for the camera.
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