Kinecting

This post is about how to connect a Kinect to your PC and how to get the Windows drivers and sample programs working. There is also a small section on how, if you're an NUS student or staff, you can connect to the hidden NUS WiFi signal on Android. This hidden WiFi signal is secure and doesn't require you to log in on the web browser every time you log on.


Kinect



The Kinect was a highly-anticipated add-on device for the XBox 360 gaming console system. It is a device that contains depth and colour cameras that allows it to create images with depth information.

Although meant to be used solely for gaming on an XBox 360, the hardware capabilities of the device makes it useful for many applications such as controlling computer applications using hand gestures or even full body motion. At first, no drivers for PC platforms were released, which meant the device had to be hacked. Soon, a hacker-created drivers for the PC were released.

Recently, an organization called OpenNI, NI for Natural Interaction, was created, whose purpose is to "certify and promote the compatibility and interoperability of Natural Interaction (NI) devices, applications and middleware". Through OpenNI, PrimeSense, the makers of the depth camera hardware in the Kinect, released what are widely known as "official open source drivers for the Kinect", "OpenNI framework for application development using natural interaction devices", and "NITE motion tracking middleware". These can be downloaded from the downloads section of the OpenNI website.

If you want minimum frustration, don't download those yet. Wait for my step-by-step instructions.

As I've found out first-hand, the framework and NITE middleware seem to be the real deal, but the "official open source drivers for the Kinect" are not quite for the Kinect. The driver package you download from the official OpenNI site is a small 600kb file. Installing that package does not provide you the drivers for Kinect. You need to get the specially built Kinect driver which is almost 9mb big.

So here's what you do (for Windows):

1) Download the latest OpenNI Unstable Build for Windows from here: [link]

2) Download the latest PrimeSense NITE Unstable Build for Windows from [here] or [here]. Take note of the license key for when you install it (0KOIk2JeIBYClPWVnMoRKn5cdY4=)

3) Do not download the PrimeSensor Module from the OpenNI or PrimeSense website, rather get it from [here] or [here].

4) Install OpenNI Unstable Build for Windows (filename is OpenNI-Bin-Win32-v1.0.0.xx.exe).

5) Install SensorKinect driver (filename is SensorKinect-Win32-5.0.0.exe).

6) Install NITE Middleware (filename is NITE-bin-Win32-v1.3.0.xx.exe).

*Assuming you installed the stuff in their default locations*

7) Go to C:\Program Files\Prime Sense\Sensor\Driver and run the file dpinst-x86.exe (I'm not sure if this step is necessary, but it's what I did so). If your computer is amd64 architecture, then use the other file (dpinst-amd64.exe) I guess.

8) Plug in the Kinect and let the computer detect and associate the drivers for it (the Xbox NUI Audio driver is not available, so just let it be). The system might not find the drivers, in which case select the third option "I will specify what driver to use" or something like that, and choose Kinect Motor and Kinect Camera for the Xbox NUI Motor and Xbox NUI Camera respectively.

*go to C:\Program Files\Prime Sense\NITE\Data and open all three XML files in a text editor (Sample-Scene.xml, Sample-Tracking.xml, Sample-User.xml)*

9) In all three files, in the line " license vendor="PrimeSense" key="no key" ", change the "no key" to the license key, i.e. "0KOIk2JeIBYClPWVnMoRKn5cdY4="

10) In all three files, in the line " mapoutputmode xres="320" yres="240" fps="30" " change 320 to 640, and 240 to 480.

That's how to set up the Kinect for PC for creating your own applications in 10 steps. I haven't actually created my own applications yet so more work might be needed. But at least you will be able to run at least SOME of the sample programs in the NITE Middleware and OpenNI package.


Trying to draw a heart shape using my hand with the NITE sample program Point Viewer

NUS Secure WiFi on Android

In the Wi-Fi settings of your phone, when you're in NUS, you'll see an "NUSOPEN" network but not an "NUS" network. Do this:

1) Select "Add Wi-Fi network".
2) Enter the SSID "NUS".
3) Select "Security" to be "802.1x EAP".
4) Select "EAP method" to be "PEAP".
5) Select "Phase 2 authentication to be "MSCHAPV2".
6) Leave "CA certificate" and "User certificate" as "(unspecified)".
7) In "Identity" enter your student/staff ID.
8) In "Password" enter your password for your ID.
9) Save these settings and connect.

Enjoy your secure WiFi on campus without having to keep logging in at the "easy authentication" website.

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Interesting Points of Interest - This post is more for me to refer to in case I forget how to do these stuff, but you might find it useful too.