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"Video game developers are desperately trying to figure out how to use the Xbox Kinect peripheral in a way that isn\u2019t utterly laughable. Or, in a way that just isn\u2019t Kinect Star Wars, at least.\r\n\r\nAt the same time however, the hacking, modding and otherwise technologically savvy community are creating ingenious applications for Microsoft\u2019s motion-sensing device. We've seen 3D video capture, Kinect-controlled robots and 3D statues that can be thrown straight into Minecraft. All pretty impressive in their own right.\r\n\r\nNo doubt feeling a little left out, one of Microsoft\u2019s own research teams has come up with a way of using Kinect as a completely affordable 3D scanner.\r\n\r\nShot in the library of The Royal Society in London, the video below shows them creating a 3D digital model of Sir Isaac Newton\u2019s death mask. That\u2019s right, we\u2019re talking about the English physicist, mathematician, astronomer, philosopher, alchemist and theologian who discovered gravity. And by death mask, we really do mean the mask directly cast from Newton\u2019s face when he died.\r\n\r\nhttp://youtu.be/oGJ-j3S-fSE\r\n\r\nShahram Izadi from Microsoft takes us through the process, which involves some experimental software, moving the camera around the mask (rather than a stationary position, which the Kinect is normally used in with the Xbox 360) and then stitching together the peripheral\u2019s multiple renders to create a smooth, digital interpretation.\r\n\r\nAt the moment this is just a research project, but there are no doubt plenty of ways for it to be adapted and developed for further use. Even as it stands, we think a potentially ever-lasting render of Sir Isaac Newton\u2019s face is pretty neat.\r\n\r\nOh, and stick around until the end to see all of Professor Martyn Poliakoff\u2019s body virtualised too. We\u2019re loving his outlandish hair-do.\r\n\r\nImage Credit: Creative Tools\u00A0"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://thenextweb.com/shareables/2012/10/05/kinect-used-to-create-first-ever-3d-scan-of-sir-isaac-newtons-death-mask/>