• Welcome to Kart Racing Pro Official Forum. Please login or sign up.
 
March 19, 2024, 10:35:42 AM

News:

Please read the FORUM RULES


Kinect

Started by PiBoSo, November 05, 2012, 08:56:19 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

PiBoSo

At the following link: http://www.kartracing-pro.com/downloads/kinect.zip it is possible to download 3 DLL that enable Kinect support in Kart Racing Pro.

Requirements:
Kinect for Windows and Windows 7 or 8 ( Kinect for Xbox shouldn't be supported. Please report if it works ).

Installation:
Unpack the zip file in Kart Racing Pro installation folder. Then enable "Face Tracking" in Settings -> Simulation -> Free Look.

Remarks:
It is possible to add, in Kart Racing Pro installation folder, a text file named "kinect.ini" to set a few parameters:

[face_tracking]
smooth = 5
yaw_multiplier = 200
pitch_multiplier = 100
roll_multiplier = 0


A very fast CPU is needed.
Gestures support will be added later.

ALEale

i have a kinect but in my xbox 360... next week can i try if it work... ( :-[ i've never modify .ini files )

Dan Buck

you could post a video to show us how this works!! ;)
If I die tomorrow, I'd be alright because I believe that after we're gone, the spirit carries on! :: If you no longer go for a gap that exists, you're no longer a racing driver.

dibu

Any news? ALEae please test it and report. I'm thinking about buying one for windows but I'm not sure because I'm using a beamer and the room is quite dark.

PiBoSo which functions exactly can we use it for? Turning the head? Better look at the apex? What else (KRP, GPBikes, WRS)?

PiBoSo

November 13, 2012, 07:11:38 PM #4 Last Edit: November 14, 2012, 10:48:52 AM by PiBoSo
Quote from: dibu on November 13, 2012, 06:35:15 PM
Any news? ALEae please test it and report. I'm thinking about buying one for windows but I'm not sure because I'm using a beamer and the room is quite dark.

PiBoSo which functions exactly can we use it for? Turning the head? Better look at the apex? What else (KRP, GPBikes, WRS)?

At the moment Kinect is used to rotate the onboard camera. The advantage is that it doesn't require to wear IR leds. Kinect does have an IR camera, but it hasn't been tested in dark conditions.
For the future, the plan is to integrate support in the next release of GP Bikes and WRS, and later to add gestures recognition.

dibu

Thanks, I'll risk it. I've just ordered one ;D.

dibu

The Kinect arrived today and I installed it with SDK 1.6. The demos of the SDK toolkit run and it's also recognized by KRP.

But here my problem starts. Most of it is related to the dark room with the beamer and the position of the Kinect in front of me and my wheel.

-The problem is that Kinect looses tracking of my face while driving.
(Not the fault of your dll, also the 'Face Tracking Visualization' demo sometimes looses contact.)

Especially the movement of my hands at the wheel seems to irritate it.
I have not much choise in positioning the unit because I have to avoid the beamer light. The unit is positioned in front of me but the wheel is also in the field of view and I can't set the Kinect higher.

Is there any way to do some fine tuning except the values you mentioned in your kinect.ini? e.g. brightness, contrast, angle ...
In the 'Kinect Explorer' I can change a lot of values but I can't use it while KRP has control. 
Does your kinect.dll read more values from the .ini?

From my first tests the combination Kinect+KRP has potential but I have to get it reliable.


PiBoSo

Quote from: dibu on November 17, 2012, 05:16:18 PM
The Kinect arrived today and I installed it with SDK 1.6. The demos of the SDK toolkit run and it's also recognized by KRP.

But here my problem starts. Most of it is related to the dark room with the beamer and the position of the Kinect in front of me and my wheel.

-The problem is that Kinect looses tracking of my face while driving.
(Not the fault of your dll, also the 'Face Tracking Visualization' demo sometimes looses contact.)

Especially the movement of my hands at the wheel seems to irritate it.
I have not much choise in positioning the unit because I have to avoid the beamer light. The unit is positioned in front of me but the wheel is also in the field of view and I can't set the Kinect higher.

Is there any way to do some fine tuning except the values you mentioned in your kinect.ini? e.g. brightness, contrast, angle ...
In the 'Kinect Explorer' I can change a lot of values but I can't use it while KRP has control. 
Does your kinect.dll read more values from the .ini?

From my first tests the combination Kinect+KRP has potential but I have to get it reliable.

The best position to avoid hands problems should be on top of the screen.
At the moment there are no tuning parameters for the Kinect DLL. They will be added in future updates if useful for low-light conditions.

dibu

Thanks. The picture shows the actual situation and I'll try to move the Kinect to the red marked position. I still need a good idea how I can mount it at the ceiling. ::)

PiBoSo

Quote from: dibu on November 18, 2012, 12:59:49 PM
Thanks. The picture shows the actual situation and I'll try to move the Kinect to the red marked position. I still need a good idea how I can mount it at the ceiling. ::)

On the ceiling it should work much better. However, it would probably not work at all if installed upside-down.

dibu

It's at the ceiling now (not upside-down) and it works much better. I also placed a small lamp in the room.

The situation now:
+ The Kinect doesn't loose contact anymore.

- The accuracy of the steering is still not satisfying. It doesn't always follow the movement of the head closely enough. Sometimes it also overreacts. I see the same behavior in the demo programs. It's still impossible to drive fast laps.

Maybe I'm too far away from the Kinect now for proper face tracking (1.7m Kinect - Face). Without tricks I can't position it nearer because I'm already using the maximum downside angle of -27°.

The CPU load for for Kinect + KRP is about 30-40% and the FPS are still 130-250. 



PiBoSo


Sorry for the problems  :(
The Kinect DLL has been tested at a distance of around 80 cm and in sunlight or desk light conditions, with no problems.
At the moment it automatically uses "near mode". Maybe "default mode" could improve accuracy.

dibu

Quote from: PiBoSo on November 18, 2012, 06:28:10 PM
Sorry for the problems  :(
Don't understand me wrong there was no criticism at all.  :) I knew what I'm doing when I bought it and that it will become an adventure to run it in my environment. I'm only reporting because it might help others to use the Kinect.

BTW I had already tested the "default mode" with the "Kinect Explorer" and there was no difference because 1.7m is in the range of both modes.

PiBoSo

Quote from: dibu on November 18, 2012, 07:01:50 PM
BTW I had already tested the "default mode" with the "Kinect Explorer" and there was no difference because 1.7m is in the range of both modes.

Thank you for the report.
Then unfortunately at the moment there seem to be no options to have better tracking.
The only hopes are 1) face tracking will be more accurate with the data from skeleton tracking 2) MS will improve the SDK.

dibu

I still don't want to give up. Now I know a bit more about the mannerisms of this diva.

I also found a better position (0.7m from face) but the angle is still a bit steep.
Would it be possible to adjust presets for pitch, yaw, roll, brightness and other useful parameters in future versions of your dll?
Is it also possible to use the infrared camera for face tracking? It could make illumination with IR-LEDs easier in a dark room.
Can you disable Kinects influence on the sound of KRP? This is quite irritating.