Yes, this is what happens when you combine Kinect with a recliner on a motorized platform -- quite normal people doing awesome zombie impersonations! This week at Microsoft's MIX 11 web pioneer conference, the adventurous Clint Rutkas of Coding4Fun / Channel 9 fame showed off his Kinect-driven "Jellybean" armchair on stage during the keynote, and later let our very own Sean Hollister take it for a spin. Sadly, we missed our chance to capture this special possibility on video for posterity when the laptop used to control this armchair overlord ran out of juice in the final stages of our repeat run. The motorized scaffold uses eight batteries, four omnidirectional wheels each with its own motor, and a pair of motor controllers connected to a laptop which interprets the input from Kinect (using the new SDK for Windows) and provides visual observation to the driver. A gesture graphical user interface brings the entire contraption to life and even includes a hand signal to recline the armchair. Take a look at some closeup shots in our gallery below and watch our video of the recliner in action after the break.

Continue reading Kinect-driven 'Jellybean' armchair hands-on (video)

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