The teardown: The Kinect for Xbox 360

Abstract

The Kinect for Xbox 360 is Microsoft's bid to respond to the controller incorporated in Nintendo's Wii games console. It seeks to extend the concept of 'immersive' play by using a technology that responds directly to body movement. Kinect consists of a set of visible and IR cameras that capture both 2D and 3D representations of the gamer directly in front of the device. This information is processed by a proprietary onboard image processor from Microsoft partner Prime Sense, and overlayed to the Xbox console as controller locations in 3D space. From a physical design perspective, the Kinect resembles an oversized motorised webcam similar to those in enterprise video teleconference equipment. However, with only VGA resolution on both the IR (depth) and visible (colour) cameras, the bill of materials reflects consumer electronic pricing rather than that for premium capital goods such as office equipment. Overall component count is 1,088, of which 410 reside on the main printed circuit board (PCB) and 363 on the Image Sense PCB. The primary cost drivers are the controls and proprietary image processing ICs from Prime Sense and also Marvell Technology. Note however that this analysis does not fully take into consideration licensing fees incurred by Microsoft for using Prime Sense's IP. The entire controller is mounted on a motorised pan/tilt platform with a MEMS-based three-axis accelerometer providing feedback controls. Also, the array of four microphones lined along the bottom panel pick up voice commands and, it is presumed, perform active noise suppression.