WEBVTT - TechStuff Classic TechStuff Hacks the Kinect 0:00:04.240 --> 0:00:07.240 Welcome to tech Stuff, a production of I Heart Radios 0:00:07.320 --> 0:00:13.880 How Stuff Works. Hey there, and welcome to tech Stuff. 0:00:13.920 --> 0:00:16.720 I'm your host, Jonathan Strickland. I'm an executive producer with 0:00:16.760 --> 0:00:18.640 How Stuff Works and I heart Radio and I love 0:00:18.720 --> 0:00:22.200 all things tech, and it's time for another classic episode 0:00:22.200 --> 0:00:25.680 of tech Stuff. This episode originally aired on August eight, 0:00:25.840 --> 0:00:29.560 two thousand and twelve. It is titled tex Stuff Hacks 0:00:29.600 --> 0:00:32.800 the Connect and this is all about the Microsoft Connect, 0:00:32.880 --> 0:00:36.760 the peripheral for the Xbox platform. And uh, back in 0:00:36.800 --> 0:00:39.440 two thousand twelve, that was still a thing. It's largely 0:00:39.520 --> 0:00:42.440 not a thing. I'll talk more about that at the 0:00:42.640 --> 0:00:46.720 end of this episode, but in the meantime, let's rejoin 0:00:47.360 --> 0:00:51.400 young Jonathan Strickland and his plucky co host Chris Palette 0:00:51.920 --> 0:00:55.279 as they talk about the Connect. Jonathan and I had 0:00:55.360 --> 0:01:00.320 been talking about things that you can do with other things. Yeah, okay, 0:01:00.320 --> 0:01:04.120 that was a little oversimplified. Basically existing technologies that could 0:01:04.120 --> 0:01:06.200 be repurposed for other means. We thought it would be 0:01:06.200 --> 0:01:09.720 fun to talk about a series of different kinds of 0:01:09.840 --> 0:01:14.280 technologies to not just uh not just say game controllers 0:01:14.319 --> 0:01:16.880 like the connect. Um So you know, this is one 0:01:16.880 --> 0:01:19.039 of those that that we're doing, and we thought this 0:01:19.080 --> 0:01:22.880 one in particular made an interesting topic because so many 0:01:22.920 --> 0:01:30.520 people have repurposed Microsoft's UM Motion sensitive controller UM and 0:01:30.600 --> 0:01:35.720 it's uh, actually for very simple reasons. It's really inexpensive 0:01:35.840 --> 0:01:38.960 compared to other ways to do this. In fact, this 0:01:39.040 --> 0:01:42.600 is very readily available. This is something that we've talked 0:01:42.640 --> 0:01:45.240 about this in a previous episode really because back when 0:01:45.280 --> 0:01:49.280 we were talked about virtual reality, Yeah, virtual reality, Uh, 0:01:49.320 --> 0:01:51.480 you know, for a while that was like the Darling 0:01:51.560 --> 0:01:54.200 phrase and technology from the late nineties. Do you remember 0:01:54.200 --> 0:01:57.240 that era where you could shoot the pterodactyl and get 0:01:57.320 --> 0:02:01.800 incredibly dizzy through the latency is choose? And the funny 0:02:01.800 --> 0:02:05.360 thing about virtual reality is it still exists, but the 0:02:05.440 --> 0:02:10.359 phrase has become so dated and associated with that big 0:02:10.400 --> 0:02:12.680 headgear and the giant gloves that you had to be 0:02:12.720 --> 0:02:18.440 wired into or the holiday. Yeah, there's a stigma there, 0:02:18.480 --> 0:02:22.080 and and the ideas have become much more refined, but 0:02:22.919 --> 0:02:28.600 they're sort of augmented reality or just virtuality, virtual environment 0:02:28.680 --> 0:02:31.799 sometimes of environments. But yeah, the connect is it is 0:02:31.840 --> 0:02:34.280 one of those things that sort of bridge the gap 0:02:34.400 --> 0:02:38.320 between the real world and what you see on the 0:02:38.360 --> 0:02:40.760 computer or on the TV. Right and like you said, 0:02:40.800 --> 0:02:43.440 it's it's readily available, and it's an expensive That was 0:02:43.480 --> 0:02:47.600 the big problem that virtual environment scientists and and and 0:02:48.080 --> 0:02:51.000 pioneers were running into is the fact that they could 0:02:51.040 --> 0:02:54.320 build the software, but designing the hardware was a lot 0:02:54.360 --> 0:02:57.320 more difficult, because you're talking about an incredibly expensive process 0:02:57.360 --> 0:03:01.600 to prototype something and then build out a working version 0:03:01.639 --> 0:03:03.639 of it and then go into mass production. If you 0:03:03.680 --> 0:03:06.680 ever want to go beyond just a laboratory experiment, that's 0:03:06.800 --> 0:03:11.400 that's hard to do. And so virtual environment folks often 0:03:11.800 --> 0:03:15.760 end up looking to the world of video games to 0:03:16.160 --> 0:03:20.560 repurpose the equipment that is made as just a form 0:03:20.600 --> 0:03:23.320 of entertainment so that they can use it in their 0:03:23.360 --> 0:03:26.280 own projects. So we've seen this with things like the 0:03:26.280 --> 0:03:30.239 we controller, uh, the Sony move controller, as well as 0:03:30.280 --> 0:03:33.600 the connect. It's one of those very easy to get 0:03:33.600 --> 0:03:37.160 your hands on pieces of technology. Yep, yep, um. Yeah. 0:03:37.160 --> 0:03:41.720 Those early uh, those early devices required you to uh 0:03:41.840 --> 0:03:44.160 put on glasses or wear a helmet that had a 0:03:44.200 --> 0:03:46.200 display that you could see so that you knew what 0:03:46.240 --> 0:03:48.960 you were doing in this virtual world. You had to 0:03:49.000 --> 0:03:52.840 have some kind of something on your body, uh, often 0:03:52.920 --> 0:03:56.800 gloves or some kind of sensors. That would relay information 0:03:56.840 --> 0:04:01.080 to the computer generating this virtual world. Usually it would 0:04:01.080 --> 0:04:04.000 be a combination of something you were holding or wearing. 0:04:04.160 --> 0:04:06.880 Plus the headmild display would have some tracking in it 0:04:06.920 --> 0:04:10.320 as well for head tracking. And in some cases you'd 0:04:10.320 --> 0:04:14.440 have to be on some kind of virtual environment too. 0:04:14.600 --> 0:04:16.560 You'd have to be on a treadmill or something that 0:04:16.600 --> 0:04:19.640 would track your movements or would make it seem like 0:04:19.760 --> 0:04:22.520 you were walking in this virtual environment. And as you 0:04:22.520 --> 0:04:26.039 can imagine, this is all really expensive. Um. The newer 0:04:26.160 --> 0:04:29.840 systems that that we use now are used infrared or 0:04:30.680 --> 0:04:34.600 or cameras regular cameras to capture where you are. They 0:04:34.640 --> 0:04:38.120 map out the room, they know and they know what's 0:04:38.200 --> 0:04:42.200 going on in your actual physical environment where you are. 0:04:42.720 --> 0:04:48.360 And um, you don't have to necessarily be wired in 0:04:48.400 --> 0:04:49.960 like you used to be a lot of it's also 0:04:50.080 --> 0:04:54.920 using Bluetooth or or WiFi to communicate, Uh, makes life 0:04:55.040 --> 0:04:58.880 so much more easy. And plus we're talking about consoles 0:04:58.960 --> 0:05:02.719 that are much more powerful. Though then the computers were 0:05:02.760 --> 0:05:04.760 back in the old you know, even in the days 0:05:04.800 --> 0:05:08.520 when people were building virtual environments and they're building those 0:05:08.520 --> 0:05:11.920 first applications. The consoles that we have today are in 0:05:12.040 --> 0:05:16.160 many ways comparable or sometimes superior to the equipment that 0:05:16.200 --> 0:05:18.160 they were using back then. So let's talk a little 0:05:18.200 --> 0:05:21.800 bit about the connect, what makes it work and how 0:05:21.839 --> 0:05:25.440 it is able to detect depth, which is I mean, 0:05:25.440 --> 0:05:27.679 that's the that's the key to many of the connect 0:05:27.680 --> 0:05:30.839 hacks is the fact that the connect is able to 0:05:31.360 --> 0:05:35.200 map out a three D virtual environment based upon a 0:05:35.240 --> 0:05:39.719 physical space. Thankfully, I found a really cool diagram in 0:05:40.040 --> 0:05:42.919 an article by Jason Tan's called connect Hackers are Changing 0:05:42.960 --> 0:05:47.920 the future of robotics. Um, the connect is a wired device. Um, 0:05:47.920 --> 0:05:53.240 But attached to that wire are some actually pretty simple electronics. Um. 0:05:53.279 --> 0:05:57.800 It's got an array of microphones, right, video camera, video camera, 0:05:58.160 --> 0:06:01.280 color camera. As a matter of fact, Um, it's got 0:06:01.320 --> 0:06:05.040 an infrared emitter, yes, which I will explain what that 0:06:05.080 --> 0:06:07.800 does in a minute. Um, and a sensor as well 0:06:08.000 --> 0:06:12.920 to pick up what that emitter is, uh, the reflections 0:06:12.960 --> 0:06:17.680 of that of the stuff that the emitter is spreading out. Yea. Yeah. 0:06:17.720 --> 0:06:21.520 It's also got a depth camera, which essentially creates a 0:06:21.560 --> 0:06:25.279 map of the room. And it's got a series of well, 0:06:25.320 --> 0:06:27.719 it's got a tilt motor in it yea, to allow 0:06:27.800 --> 0:06:32.279 the device itself to change its own uh. Perspective really, 0:06:32.720 --> 0:06:35.680 which is very useful and lots of different applications also, 0:06:35.720 --> 0:06:40.080 so you can get go connecting and guess, okay, no, 0:06:40.160 --> 0:06:44.800 it doesn't. How can the connect detect huh? A three 0:06:44.800 --> 0:06:47.159 dimensional environment? So you know, with a three D camera, 0:06:47.240 --> 0:06:51.520 the way we would normally make a three D movie 0:06:51.920 --> 0:06:53.240 is that you would have a camera that would have 0:06:53.279 --> 0:06:57.560 two sets of lenses set apart from one another in 0:06:57.600 --> 0:06:59.840 such a way so that two different sets of m 0:07:00.120 --> 0:07:04.400 just could be combined. Uh. And so when we watch it, 0:07:04.760 --> 0:07:06.920 our brains do the work and put it all together, 0:07:06.960 --> 0:07:09.360 and it makes the illusion of three D. Right. The 0:07:09.600 --> 0:07:15.520 two cameras are spaced about the average with of human eye, 0:07:15.920 --> 0:07:18.760 so that that it creates that illusion of depth because 0:07:18.800 --> 0:07:22.920 it it takes two images um set apart and about 0:07:22.920 --> 0:07:24.800 that with and it makes us believe. It makes our 0:07:24.800 --> 0:07:27.600 brains think that it's in three D right, right, And 0:07:27.680 --> 0:07:31.320 each each set of images goes to one of our eyes. Right. 0:07:31.440 --> 0:07:33.800 So that's why people who have vision problems with one 0:07:33.840 --> 0:07:37.640 eye or what often have difficulty perceiving a three D 0:07:38.120 --> 0:07:41.200 film because for it to really work, both eyes have 0:07:41.320 --> 0:07:44.560 to receive their individual sets of information. That's why three 0:07:44.640 --> 0:07:47.200 D glasses are the way they are, it's to filter 0:07:47.320 --> 0:07:50.960 out the other set of images so that only one 0:07:51.000 --> 0:07:53.680 set goes to each eye. Well, that's not how the 0:07:53.680 --> 0:07:57.440 connect does this. The connect has that emitter and the 0:07:57.520 --> 0:08:00.680 sensor or the depth camera to do this. And what's 0:08:00.720 --> 0:08:04.960 going on is that Imagine that you've got your your 0:08:05.880 --> 0:08:08.160 living room set up, okay, and you've got your connect 0:08:08.200 --> 0:08:11.560 connected to your Xbox three six so imagined. Alright, so 0:08:11.920 --> 0:08:14.760 you're standing in front of the connect. How does the 0:08:14.800 --> 0:08:18.160 connect tell that you are a three dimensional person? Because 0:08:18.200 --> 0:08:22.119 remember when a regular video camera, you're getting a flattened image. 0:08:22.200 --> 0:08:25.320 That's that's the real problem with with a basic cameras 0:08:25.400 --> 0:08:28.640 that it flattens everything out. It does not detect depth. 0:08:30.040 --> 0:08:35.800 The only que we have visually is essentially the uh perspective, 0:08:36.280 --> 0:08:38.120 which is why and the Lord of the Rings movies, 0:08:38.200 --> 0:08:41.720 when you had characters standing really far away from characters 0:08:41.720 --> 0:08:43.880 who are really close to the camera. That created the 0:08:43.880 --> 0:08:49.360 forced perspective illusion that one character was larger significantly than 0:08:49.400 --> 0:08:53.400 another character. Uh happens all the time in films. Well, 0:08:53.760 --> 0:08:56.360 the way the Connect gets around this is that emitter 0:08:56.520 --> 0:09:02.920 that I infrared emitter says out essentially a grid that 0:09:03.120 --> 0:09:05.960 is made up of infrared light. Now we cannot see 0:09:06.000 --> 0:09:09.439 infrared light, so we do not perceive this, right, It's 0:09:09.480 --> 0:09:12.600 outside the visible spectrum for human beings unless you're an 0:09:12.600 --> 0:09:14.959 alpha a dwarf from advanced stages in the Dragons, in 0:09:15.000 --> 0:09:16.880 which case you might be able to see this, but 0:09:17.000 --> 0:09:19.120 you're probably not playing Xbox if you're one of those, 0:09:19.200 --> 0:09:24.359 unless it's skyrin anyway. So the this grid gets projected 0:09:24.600 --> 0:09:28.960 over the physical environment. Well, when the grid encounters a 0:09:28.960 --> 0:09:32.800 physical object, it's deformed. The grid itself is deformed, not 0:09:32.840 --> 0:09:35.680 the object. The object stays the same, otherwise we would 0:09:35.720 --> 0:09:37.520 have a lot more to talk about with the connect. 0:09:38.040 --> 0:09:41.200 So the grid deforms when it contacts comes into contact 0:09:41.240 --> 0:09:47.160 with a physical object. The depth camera measures the deformities 0:09:47.400 --> 0:09:50.480 that are within this grid and can interpret that as 0:09:50.600 --> 0:09:56.440 objects that are a certain distance from the connect. So 0:09:56.520 --> 0:10:00.440 as it tracks the changes in these deformities, it text 0:10:00.640 --> 0:10:04.160 player movement. So when you move your arm, that grid 0:10:04.240 --> 0:10:07.319 is going to change, and the depth sensor is going 0:10:07.360 --> 0:10:11.960 to to capture those changes, send that information to a 0:10:12.000 --> 0:10:17.080 processor which then interprets those changes as various commands. So, 0:10:17.200 --> 0:10:20.120 for example, if it's a game where you shove your 0:10:20.160 --> 0:10:24.160 hand out in order to make a character shoot a gun. 0:10:24.760 --> 0:10:28.360 Then what happens is the uh, the grid will be 0:10:28.360 --> 0:10:31.680 deformed as your hand goes closer to the camera on 0:10:31.800 --> 0:10:35.160 the or the to the infrared emitter. Really from the connect, 0:10:35.480 --> 0:10:38.360 that grid deforms in a certain way. The depth sensor 0:10:38.440 --> 0:10:42.960 camera detects it and then sends the appropriate command or 0:10:43.000 --> 0:10:45.520 the or the data to the processor which process of 0:10:45.520 --> 0:10:50.120 the appropriate command for the game. So that's the basics 0:10:50.360 --> 0:10:53.120 behind the depth sensing technology of the connect. There are 0:10:53.120 --> 0:10:56.240 a lot of other sensors out there. They use similar technology, 0:10:56.280 --> 0:10:59.480 not all of them are using that grid approach. Because 0:10:59.520 --> 0:11:04.160 one of the um downsides to this is that the 0:11:04.200 --> 0:11:08.160 closer you get to the camera, the less accurate this 0:11:08.360 --> 0:11:12.199 depth sensing technology is because the grid is of the 0:11:12.520 --> 0:11:16.280 squares within that grid are a certain size. So as 0:11:16.320 --> 0:11:20.000 you get closer and closer, you are deforming less of 0:11:20.040 --> 0:11:24.920 the grid with your various movements because your your movements 0:11:24.920 --> 0:11:27.240 are taking place more within the empty space of the 0:11:27.280 --> 0:11:30.680 box as opposed to the various intersecting lines. If that 0:11:30.720 --> 0:11:34.679 makes any sense, No, it does, Um and uh it's 0:11:34.679 --> 0:11:38.600 funny because this this technology is we think about it. 0:11:38.640 --> 0:11:41.560 This this this technology is designed to be used in 0:11:41.559 --> 0:11:44.920 the living room as part of a game system. Um. 0:11:44.960 --> 0:11:49.200 It's it's designed to be inexpensive so people can afford it, 0:11:49.640 --> 0:11:54.920 but still to be sophisticated. Um. And that's why. Um 0:11:55.280 --> 0:11:57.200 and it was designed by Microsoft, which is why people 0:11:57.200 --> 0:12:01.120 want to hack it. Um. Actually, I think that's probably 0:12:01.160 --> 0:12:04.280 a lesser reason, but yeah, I'm a motivating factor for 0:12:04.320 --> 0:12:07.360 some people, I think. I think the motivating factor is 0:12:07.360 --> 0:12:09.440 mainly that it's a cool technology that can do a 0:12:09.440 --> 0:12:11.320 lot of stuff. But the fact that Microsoft is the 0:12:11.320 --> 0:12:13.640 one behind it may give some people a little extra 0:12:13.679 --> 0:12:17.440 motivation that that. Yeah, that's that that slightly turned up 0:12:17.520 --> 0:12:21.439 smile and right. Um, no, it's it's available in many 0:12:21.520 --> 0:12:25.839 many places. Um and uh you know that's that's sort 0:12:25.880 --> 0:12:30.000 of what provided the impetus for sort of a competition 0:12:30.080 --> 0:12:32.720 to see who could hack into it first and make 0:12:32.800 --> 0:12:37.040 sense of the the communications. Right. So the Connect launched 0:12:37.120 --> 0:12:43.800 officially on November four, and then immediately as when we're 0:12:43.840 --> 0:12:47.920 recording it, right, and immediately there was this this challenge issued. 0:12:48.320 --> 0:12:50.800 It was like a bounty essentially for the first people 0:12:50.840 --> 0:12:56.320 to to really hack the Connect Microsoft. Uh. The initial 0:12:56.360 --> 0:13:00.160 reaction from the company was negative. The come be the 0:13:00.280 --> 0:13:05.920 officials originally when news was breaking about people trying to 0:13:05.960 --> 0:13:08.760 hack the connects, said that they were, uh, they were 0:13:08.800 --> 0:13:12.600 not in favor of people modifying their products, and in fact, 0:13:12.679 --> 0:13:15.560 they would work with law enforcement officials to try and 0:13:15.679 --> 0:13:19.559 keep people from tampering with the connect Yes, but at 0:13:19.600 --> 0:13:22.440 that point, if you think about it, the the Xbox 0:13:22.440 --> 0:13:27.800 three sixty had been out before, um, before Nintendo's Wii system, 0:13:27.840 --> 0:13:29.800 and a lot of people have dismissed the Wii as 0:13:29.800 --> 0:13:33.880 being a lightweight, didn't have high deaf uh you know, 0:13:33.960 --> 0:13:37.160 not not full ten eight high deaf, and it was 0:13:37.160 --> 0:13:41.240 seen as a game system for casual gamers, which among 0:13:41.679 --> 0:13:45.720 amongst a certain subset of hardcore gamers, that has a 0:13:45.720 --> 0:13:50.160 stigma right for a hardcore gamer for some, not all 0:13:50.240 --> 0:13:52.720 because I'm a hardcore gamer in many ways, but I 0:13:52.760 --> 0:13:55.720 don't share this particular opinion, but for some hardcore gamers, 0:13:56.160 --> 0:13:59.480 they view it as it's not a quote unquote real 0:13:59.679 --> 0:14:05.200 gaming system because it doesn't cater to their particular gaming preferences, right, right, 0:14:05.520 --> 0:14:07.720 And you know, we've talked about this on on multiple 0:14:07.720 --> 0:14:09.280 podcast so I don't want to get into it in 0:14:09.280 --> 0:14:13.760 in great depth, um, but I think that uh, the 0:14:13.880 --> 0:14:17.240 success of the weeze control system using the motion Wireless 0:14:17.280 --> 0:14:22.560 Motion Control system, UH, surprised both Sony and Microsoft. UH. 0:14:22.560 --> 0:14:25.000 And then Microsoft was the first to come out with 0:14:25.040 --> 0:14:28.080 its own upgrade to the three sixty, which you know 0:14:28.160 --> 0:14:32.160 wasn't actually the three sixty was actually the Connect itself. 0:14:32.600 --> 0:14:35.560 UM and we we heard about this um as project 0:14:35.640 --> 0:14:38.920 at all back in the in the early days of 0:14:38.960 --> 0:14:42.200 the system. But then they released the Connect and it 0:14:42.280 --> 0:14:45.480 was immensely successful from the get go as far as 0:14:45.560 --> 0:14:48.320 the the Xbox three sixty because it gave you all 0:14:48.400 --> 0:14:51.480 kinds of new ways to interact with the system and 0:14:51.840 --> 0:14:56.000 the games. It's sold like hotcakes. It became the fastest, 0:14:56.440 --> 0:15:00.680 uh fastest ever selling device to get broke all the 0:15:00.720 --> 0:15:02.800 records at the time of its release. Now I should 0:15:02.880 --> 0:15:06.040 add that before we get a ton of listener mail 0:15:06.120 --> 0:15:09.920 and responses to this. There have been some criticisms about 0:15:09.960 --> 0:15:13.760 the Microsoft support of the Connect, saying that perhaps there 0:15:13.800 --> 0:15:17.480 aren't quite as many games to support the device as 0:15:17.600 --> 0:15:23.479 people would prefer, but it's still been an incredible resource 0:15:23.560 --> 0:15:27.080 for hackers. Yes so so, maybe not as much for 0:15:27.560 --> 0:15:31.000 hardcore video gamers. Although there are some great Connect games 0:15:31.000 --> 0:15:34.760 out there, it's just that some connect some people say like, okay, well, 0:15:34.800 --> 0:15:39.200 the added benefit of the Connect hasn't really been fully 0:15:39.240 --> 0:15:43.720 realized in the game space, but it is it's an 0:15:43.720 --> 0:15:47.600 incredible tool for hackers. Yeah, Microsoft, Microsoft came out with 0:15:47.640 --> 0:15:51.400 a really nifty device in the Connect, And the only 0:15:51.440 --> 0:15:54.200 reason I mentioned that bit of background was um I 0:15:54.240 --> 0:15:57.360 think it may have played into their Microsoft's response to 0:15:57.400 --> 0:16:01.640 the hacker community doing this because, as Jonathan mentioned, a 0:16:01.680 --> 0:16:05.200 moment ago, they said, no, we this is a proprietary device. 0:16:05.320 --> 0:16:08.040 We do not want anybody mucking around with it and 0:16:08.080 --> 0:16:10.920 hacking it. It is designed for the Xbox three sixty 0:16:11.680 --> 0:16:15.200 And then a very short time later, like basically they 0:16:15.240 --> 0:16:17.840 had the weekend to think about it. It was so 0:16:17.840 --> 0:16:21.880 so it launched on November four. They shortly after launched 0:16:22.360 --> 0:16:25.120 discussed the idea of we do not want people hacking 0:16:25.120 --> 0:16:29.280 with this. But on November nineteen, there was period of 0:16:29.280 --> 0:16:32.080 time right there was a there was a developer for 0:16:32.160 --> 0:16:36.720 the Connect who specifically said that they left the Connect 0:16:36.800 --> 0:16:40.400 open by design, it was meant to be a hackable device, 0:16:40.480 --> 0:16:43.120 and Microsoft got behind that at that point. I think 0:16:43.360 --> 0:16:46.720 I think in part they saw what the public opinion was, 0:16:47.320 --> 0:16:50.560 and you know, they probably also learned from other companies, 0:16:52.640 --> 0:16:55.600 maybe not mistakes, but their approaches to this same sort 0:16:55.640 --> 0:16:59.520 of thing, like a famous one Sony's PS three. Yes, 0:17:00.040 --> 0:17:02.560 the original run of the PS three allowed you to 0:17:03.200 --> 0:17:06.800 uh to load up a Linux based operating system to 0:17:07.000 --> 0:17:09.640 the PS three, turning it into a very powerful computer. 0:17:10.119 --> 0:17:11.919 And if you've got a whole bunch of them together, 0:17:12.359 --> 0:17:15.640 you could make essentially what was equivalent to a supercomputer 0:17:15.800 --> 0:17:20.320 running on this alternate operating system. But then in later 0:17:21.080 --> 0:17:25.359 iterations of the p S three, later models, Sony removed 0:17:25.400 --> 0:17:28.320 that they first they began to send out patches to 0:17:28.400 --> 0:17:31.600 the firmware so that it would prevent you from loading 0:17:31.600 --> 0:17:34.000 in that operating system on the older models, and then 0:17:34.000 --> 0:17:36.400 the newer models just had no support for it at all. 0:17:36.760 --> 0:17:39.040 And Sony caught a lot of flak from a lot 0:17:39.080 --> 0:17:44.119 of different hackers and computer scientists saying, you've just taken 0:17:44.160 --> 0:17:49.000 away a tool that was incredibly powerful and affordable that 0:17:49.080 --> 0:17:51.639 would have done a lot of good, and now we 0:17:51.720 --> 0:17:55.080 can't do that anymore. And clearly the military, the military 0:17:55.119 --> 0:17:58.040 was using PS three's as well in this case because 0:17:58.080 --> 0:18:00.720 they were they were inexpensive compared to the other kinds 0:18:00.760 --> 0:18:06.959 of supercomputer quote unquote supercomputer material or hardware. They they 0:18:07.000 --> 0:18:10.760 were looking into um and it was easy to do so. 0:18:11.000 --> 0:18:14.760 And that's why the hacker community with Microsoft now blessing, 0:18:15.400 --> 0:18:17.760 they've said, you know, okay, let's do this. Yeah. I 0:18:17.760 --> 0:18:21.120 think I think I think that I think Microsoft realized 0:18:21.160 --> 0:18:22.479 I said, you know, this is First of all, it's 0:18:22.480 --> 0:18:25.520 a losing battle because hackers are gonna hack. Second of all, 0:18:26.000 --> 0:18:28.600 it's better, it's a better pr move if we support 0:18:28.600 --> 0:18:30.159 it then if we don't. And third they may have 0:18:30.240 --> 0:18:33.440 just again, they may have just honestly rethought it and 0:18:34.000 --> 0:18:37.040 came to the conclusion of this makes way more sense. 0:18:37.040 --> 0:18:39.000 First of all, we're gonna sell way more connects if 0:18:39.040 --> 0:18:42.919 we actually support this community, and you never know what 0:18:43.080 --> 0:18:47.440 can come out of it. And some phenomenal stuff has 0:18:47.480 --> 0:18:50.960 come out of the hacking community. And uh, and some 0:18:51.040 --> 0:18:54.480 of it came out almost immediately, like like within within 0:18:54.520 --> 0:18:57.439 a couple of weeks of the connect becoming a product 0:18:57.440 --> 0:18:59.520 that you could actually buy off the store shelf and 0:18:59.560 --> 0:19:03.199 bring it home, you started seeing some really innovative hacks 0:19:04.080 --> 0:19:07.639 using it. Yeah. Now, also just as a mitigating factor 0:19:08.000 --> 0:19:11.320 three a or three and a half on your scale. Uh. 0:19:11.400 --> 0:19:15.680 Microsoft also realized that the proprietary information inside the connect 0:19:15.760 --> 0:19:18.440 is remaining proprietary. The people the things that the hackers 0:19:18.440 --> 0:19:22.399 are are doing basically just use the signals from the connect. 0:19:22.560 --> 0:19:25.600 We found ways to use to write software for and 0:19:25.880 --> 0:19:28.240 use the signals from the connect, and they're not actually 0:19:28.280 --> 0:19:31.560 getting into the stuff that's truly proprietary about the connect. 0:19:31.840 --> 0:19:34.600 And so Microsoft went, We're really there's nothing to be 0:19:34.720 --> 0:19:37.639 afraid of, um, which is very cool. It's not like 0:19:37.720 --> 0:19:40.800 it's not like hackers are trying to create a cheaper 0:19:40.920 --> 0:19:44.960 version of the connect and sell that or reverse engineer it. Yeah, 0:19:45.000 --> 0:19:46.840 they're not, they're not doing that. But let's talk about 0:19:46.840 --> 0:19:51.200 the stuff that they are doing. There's so many amazing things, 0:19:51.240 --> 0:19:53.960 all kinds of things. So they fall into two general 0:19:54.000 --> 0:19:57.840 broad categories. Usually there are quite a few that fit 0:19:57.960 --> 0:20:04.040 into very broad categorizations, like user interfaces would be one 0:20:04.680 --> 0:20:08.160 being using the connect in various ways as a user interface, 0:20:09.040 --> 0:20:11.879 which is not a big surprise. I mean, that's the 0:20:11.880 --> 0:20:14.760 original intended use of the connect. It's a user interface 0:20:14.840 --> 0:20:17.080 for the Xbox three sixty. But there are people who 0:20:17.119 --> 0:20:19.679 have designed it to be a user interface for lots 0:20:19.720 --> 0:20:25.080 of other stuff, everything from a computer where you're just 0:20:25.200 --> 0:20:28.320 using gesture controls and voice controls to interact with the 0:20:28.320 --> 0:20:34.280 computer two robotics. I showed a video to Chris and 0:20:34.560 --> 0:20:38.400 our producer Tyler just before we went live on this podcast, 0:20:38.840 --> 0:20:44.160 talking about a project that created a robotic trash can 0:20:44.920 --> 0:20:47.680 and it was a very clever approach and and it 0:20:47.720 --> 0:20:50.639 wasn't It was using to connect in a way I 0:20:50.720 --> 0:20:53.760 just did not. It didn't occur to me it Uh. 0:20:53.880 --> 0:20:58.639 Actually it mirrors what happened with the Microsoft connect Um 0:20:58.640 --> 0:21:02.320 in that, uh, people saw a challenge and they rose 0:21:02.400 --> 0:21:05.480 to meet the challenge. It was a based off a 0:21:05.560 --> 0:21:10.200 commercial for what gum mints? Mints? Okay, it was commercial 0:21:10.240 --> 0:21:12.760 that the idea of being that it shows a guy 0:21:12.760 --> 0:21:16.400 at a typewriter and a typewriter kids, ask your parents 0:21:16.400 --> 0:21:19.040 because it's got a typewriter and pulling out a sheet 0:21:19.040 --> 0:21:20.840 of paper from the typewriter and crumpling it up and 0:21:20.880 --> 0:21:23.560 throwing it behind his back and does this does this 0:21:23.640 --> 0:21:26.000 a couple of times working on a project, and he's 0:21:26.040 --> 0:21:29.080 just coming up with drafts that don't match to his expectations, 0:21:29.080 --> 0:21:31.040 so each one he pulls out and throws away and 0:21:31.040 --> 0:21:33.880 then he then he takes He's very inaccurate, right right, 0:21:33.920 --> 0:21:35.600 So yeah, it cuts behind him, and there's just all 0:21:35.640 --> 0:21:38.040 these little crumpled pieces of paper on the floor. Then 0:21:38.040 --> 0:21:40.919 he eats a couple of mints, crumples up the next 0:21:40.960 --> 0:21:42.600 piece of paper, throws it behind him, and then the 0:21:42.600 --> 0:21:46.760 trash can moves to intercept where the paper is coming 0:21:46.800 --> 0:21:49.000 from and catches the paper. Right. Yeah, it says that 0:21:49.160 --> 0:21:51.000 it will make you The mints will make you sharper. 0:21:51.160 --> 0:21:53.880 Actually seems like they should. He's apparently been feeding the 0:21:53.920 --> 0:22:00.080 mints trash can. But yeah, so so commercial. Some some 0:22:00.080 --> 0:22:04.919 some robotics and computer scientists types decided to try and 0:22:05.080 --> 0:22:08.960 recreate that moving trash can. So they built a robotic 0:22:09.000 --> 0:22:11.440 base that had three wheels on it that would allow 0:22:11.560 --> 0:22:15.040 the the base to move in any given direction at 0:22:15.080 --> 0:22:18.320 a pretty good clip, as as the videos shows. Then 0:22:18.359 --> 0:22:22.399 they built a essentially a trash can chassis that fits 0:22:22.520 --> 0:22:25.200 over that, so so it disguises the fact that there's 0:22:25.240 --> 0:22:28.760 this base with wheels on it. Just from a casual glance, 0:22:28.960 --> 0:22:30.359 it looks like a trash can that goes all the 0:22:30.359 --> 0:22:32.760 way to the floor. There's actually just a little bit 0:22:32.760 --> 0:22:35.200 of clearance so that the wheels can move around. Yes, yes, 0:22:35.240 --> 0:22:39.359 they obviously were very careful in their measurements because it 0:22:39.640 --> 0:22:43.200 fits directly over the robot base and you cannot tell 0:22:43.520 --> 0:22:47.320 just from a casual glance that there's a robot inside 0:22:47.359 --> 0:22:49.879 the trash can. And I'm assuming they probably made a 0:22:50.320 --> 0:22:53.040 false bottom too to cover the robot. They didn't show 0:22:53.080 --> 0:22:55.560 that part, but they they did show that they were 0:22:55.600 --> 0:23:02.040 actually machining these parts like they were using us. Yeah. So, uh, 0:23:02.240 --> 0:23:05.520 the the remote control aspect, they hooked up to a 0:23:05.560 --> 0:23:08.320 computer and they wrote some software and they used a 0:23:08.400 --> 0:23:11.199 connect sensor. They mounted it to the wall. So what 0:23:11.240 --> 0:23:13.560 the connect censor does is it essentially makes a three 0:23:13.680 --> 0:23:17.240 D map of the room, right, so it's able to 0:23:17.320 --> 0:23:22.600 detect depth and and direction and movement. And what they 0:23:22.640 --> 0:23:24.760 did was they created a program so that when you 0:23:24.880 --> 0:23:29.920 tossed any small object through this space, the connect would 0:23:29.920 --> 0:23:33.840 detect the arc of that particular object and plot out 0:23:34.000 --> 0:23:36.919 where it was going to land, send a command to 0:23:37.000 --> 0:23:40.600 this robotic trash can, which would intercept that path and 0:23:40.720 --> 0:23:43.320 catch the object. So this has to happen really fast. 0:23:43.920 --> 0:23:46.720 It has to detect the arc, plotted out its course, 0:23:46.920 --> 0:23:48.959 send the information to the robot, and the robot has 0:23:48.960 --> 0:23:50.840 to have time to move to the right location to 0:23:50.880 --> 0:23:53.200 catch it. And we were watching the video is probably 0:23:53.880 --> 0:23:55.639