Microsoft shares Kinect for Windows sample code under open source license

Here's a spot of news tracking strongly on the intrigue-o-meter: Microsoft has released sample code for its Kinect for Windows peripheral under the Apache 2.0 license.

for its Kinect for Windows peripheral under the Apache 2.0 license. In other words, the tech giant is giving PC developers a partially open source Kinect to play around with, opening up interesting possibilities for utilizing Microsoft's motion control device in games and other software.

The license applies to Kinect for Windows's sample code, a set of functional models covering the device's support for audio capture and body tracking. As the project website states, the added license lets coders "reuse and remix" the samples as they see fit. Though the majority of the Kinect's code stays firmly proprietary for now, it seems Microsoft is a little curious to see what possible PC gaming applications could arise from this change, especially with aftermarket attachments such as Nyko's Zoomreducing the range needed for the Kinect to pick up movement.

Head over to the Kinect for Windows developer blogfor more technical descriptions of what the license provides and to download the sample code yourself.