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"  For all the hubbub about Nintendo&amp;#039;s motion-sensing Wii (remember the Wii?) getting gamers off their couches, the vast majority of the system&amp;#039;s games don&amp;#039;t require much physical exertion beyond a few well-timed flicks of the wrist. So perhaps the greatest innovation of the Microsoft Kinect\u2014the new Xbox 360 peripheral that uses depth-perceiving cameras to scan your entire body for controller-free, arm-flailing gaming\u2014is that, at least with certain games, you really can break a sweat. (Seriously, try playing Dance Central for more than a few minutes.) But while button-mashing games can be played in pretty much any room, without much regard for anything else, making the most of your Kinect can take some prep. First rule: The smaller the room, the higher you&amp;#039;ll need to place the sensor bar. If you&amp;#039;re blessed with a large, open playing space, you can probably get away with placing the sensor on your TV stand below the set, but if you&amp;#039;re playing in cramped confines, try to position the bar somewhere between eye level and 6 feet in the air. &amp;quot;Height gives the camera a better view of your body when you&amp;#039;re standing closer to the camera,&amp;quot; says Josh Hutto, Microsoft&amp;#039;s director of marketing for Xbox 360. Several third-party accessory-makers now make wall mounts, TV clamps and freestanding floor stands to help keep the sensor afloat. Next, you&amp;#039;ll want to clear out as much furniture as you can. Couches, coffee tables, ottomans, Greco-Roman sculptures\u2014they can all block the Kinect&amp;#039;s view of your room and even cause injury if you happen to bump into them while in the throes of a Kinect Adventures tournament (YouTube is full of hilarious examples of such mishaps). For most people, this game of musical chairs (or, rather, musical furniture) should be no problem. For others, it could be a potential deal breaker. So before you invest in a Kinect and a bunch of games, make sure you are willing and able to make space for it every time you want to play. When you&amp;#039;re actually using the Kinect,you&amp;#039;ll want to stand at least 6 feet from the TV. According to Microsoft, the sweet spot lies in the 6- to 8-foot range. If two people are playing at once, make sure there&amp;#039;s enough room for both players to flail their limbs without slapping or kicking each other. And while some players I&amp;#039;ve spoken to assume they need to shuffle any nonplaying spectators out of the camera&amp;#039;s field of vision, as long as your friends are standing a few feet behind you, the Kinect does a fairly good job of figuring out whom it should focus on. And watch out for slippery floors\u2014playing on a rug or yoga mat can keep you from face-planting. One last bit of advice: If you&amp;#039;ve got kids under 40 inches tall, the Kinect may have issues mapping their body movements. That doesn&amp;#039;t mean they can&amp;#039;t play\u2014the sensor just may not work as well as you&amp;#039;d want it to. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.popularmechanics.com/culture/gaming/a6565/how-to-transform-your-living-room-into-a-kinect-friendly-arena/>