Depth-Based User Interaction

Our projects working with skeleton data so far (Chapter 4 and 5) utilize only the X and Y values of each skeleton joint. However, the aspect of Kinect that differentiates it from all other input devices is not utilized. Each joint comes with a depth value, and every Kinect application should make use of the depth data. Do not forget the Z. The next project explores uses for skeleton data, and examines a basic approach to integrating depth data into a Kinect application.

Without using the 3D capabilities of WPF, there are a few ways to layer visual elements, giving them depth. The layout system ultimately determines the layout order of the visual elements. Using elements of different sizes along with layout system layering gives the illusion of depth. Our new project uses a Canvas and the Canvas.ZIndex property to set the layering of visual elements. Alternatively, it uses both manual sizing and a ScaleTransform to control dynamic scaling for changes in depth. The user interface of this project consists of a number of circles, each representing a certain depth. The application tracks the user's hands with cursors (hand images), which change in scale depending on the depth of the user. The closer the user is to the screen, the larger the cursors, and the farther from Kinect, the smaller the scale.