THE BEST THINGS IN LIFE ARE FREE... OK, MAYBE NOT ALL, BUT SOME. LIKE FOR INSTANCE OPENNI. IT'S THE OPEN SOURCE FRAMEWORK THAT PROVIDES AN API FOR WRITING APPLICATIONS USING NATURAL INTERACTION — NI.

Natural Interaction might sound like something else, but what we are referring to is the ability to command and control the digital world using your hands, body and voice. No more huddling around a joystick or searching for the lost remote control. Natural Interaction is the complete package — accurate, full body, and totally immersive.

It's not that we're trying to eradicate the remote control (well, sort of); or make sure all you gamers get enough exercise (we do care, though); we just want more cool applications using Natural Interaction. And the possibilities are endless, from automotive and robotics, to healthcare and assisted living, and of course, the next generation of gaming. So go ahead, start using OpenNI. Make history and create some digital future. Your mothers will be proud.

THE WHOLE SOCIAL, INTERACTIVE EXPERIENCE IS GOING ON AT THE NEW OPENNI ARENA OVER AT OPENNI.ORG  JOIN TO LEARN ABOUT OPENNI, AND SHOW US WHAT YOU'VE GOT.

Natural Interaction is:

• Hand gestures, where pre-defined hand gestures are recognized and interpreted to activate and control devices

• Body motion tracking, where full body motion is tracked, analyzed and interpreted for gaming purposes

• Speech and command recognition, where devices receive instructions via vocal commands

What you get with OpenNI:

OpenNI supplies a set of APIs to be implemented by the sensor devices, and another set of APIs to be implemented by the middleware components. By breaking the dependency between the sensor and the middleware, OpenNI's API enables applications to be written and ported — with no additional effort — to operate on top of different middleware modules ("write once, deploy everywhere").

OpenNI's API also enables middleware developers to write algorithms on top of raw data formats, regardless of the sensor device that produced them. It also gives sensor manufacturers the ability to build sensors to power any OpenNI compliant application.

The OpenNI standard API enables natural-interaction application developers to track real-life 3D scenes using data types that are calculated from the input of a sensor such as:

• Full body representation

• Hand location representation

• An array of the pixels in a depth map; and more, giving you complete freedom. applications can be written regardless of the sensor or middleware providers.

OpenNI is an open source API that is publicly available at www.OpenNI.org.

Join OpenNI

OpenNI is an industry-led organization formed to certify and promote the compatibility and interoperability of Natural Interaction (NI) devices, applications and middleware.

Go to www.openni.org, to download the open source OpenNI framework, and find out which third-party hardware and middleware solutions are OpenNI compliant, along with loads more information about building applications.