GreenBkk Tech | Kinect has trouble recognizing dark skin, gaming review website says

Kinect has trouble recognizing dark skin, gaming review website says

GameSpot said two of its dark-skinned employees had problems getting Kinect's facial recognition features to work.

It's not even one day old, but the new Kinect video-gaming system may be running into a public relations snag.

Gaming review site GameSpot is reporting that two of its dark-skinned employees had problems getting the facial recognition features of the Kinect to work. According to the report, the system recognized one inconsistently and was never able to fully identify the other despite repeated calibration attempts.

A third dark-skinned employee was recognized on the first try, GameSpot said.

Cameras and facial-recognition software help Kinect, made by Microsoft, to work with its Xbox console, identifying players automatically without their having to sign in. It also notices when another player joins the action on the fly in a two-player game.

Not being recognized does not affect game play, and the dark-skinned GameSpot employees reportedly were able to control their on-screen avatars without problems after manually signing in.

Kinect employs sensors and cameras to record a player's full-body movements and make them correspond to avatars' movements in Xbox games.

In their users' manual included with Kinect, Microsoft suggests ensuring that sunlight isn't shining directly on the player or the camera.

Sunlight directly on a player's face could wash out his or her facial features for the camera, while sunlight directly behind a player and on the Kinect camera could create a shadow effect on the face.

In a written statement, Microsoft said Thursday that changing the game's settings should make the facial-recognition feature work for everyone.

"Kinect works great with all skin tones," said the statement from a Microsoft spokesperson. "And just like a camera, optimal lighting is best. Anyone experiencing issues with facial recognition should adjust their lighting settings, as instructed in the Kinect Tuner."

While testing the Kinect for a review, I found it would more easily recognize me when the room was well-lit than if it was darker. But that did not change the game experience.

This issue is not new. Last year, Hewlett-Packard computers with built-in webcams reported problems recognizing some users' faces, particularly those with dark skin.

HP blamed the software, stating the technology "measures the difference in the intensity of contrast between the eyes and the upper cheek and nose. We believe the camera might have difficulty 'seeing' contrast in conditions where there is insufficient foreground lighting."

Microsoft initially responded to GameSpot by saying, "The goal of Kinect is to break down the barriers for everyone to play, and it will work with people of all shapes and ethnicities at launch."

Kinect owners who are having calibration or recognition problems can contact Microsoft at xaccess@microsoft.com.

Microsoft estimates the company will sell 5 million Kinect units by year's end. With that sample size, we'll know soon how widespread the alleged problem may be, and whether the proposed solutions work for everyone.

Credit: CNN