OpenNI

The organization was created in November 2010,{{cite web|url=http://www.openni.org/?q=node/3|title=News|work=openni.org|accessdate=5 Jan 2011}} with the website going public on December 8.{{cite web|url=http://kinecthacks.net/openni-standard-launched/|title=OpenNI Standard Launched|work=kinecthacks.net|author=Madhav K|date=9 Dec 2010|accessdate=5 Jan 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110108153907/http://kinecthacks.net/openni-standard-launched/|archive-date=8 January 2011|url-status=dead}} One of the main members was PrimeSense, the company behind the technology used in the Kinect, a motion sensing input device by Microsoft for the Xbox 360 video game console.

In December 2010, PrimeSense, whose depth sensing reference design Kinect is based on, released their own open source drivers along with motion tracking middleware called NITE.{{cite web|last=Mitchell |first=Richard |url=http://www.joystiq.com/2010/12/10/primesense-releases-open-source-drivers-middleware-for-kinect/ |title=PrimeSense releases open source drivers, middleware for Kinect |publisher=Joystiq.com |date=2010-12-10 |accessdate=2013-05-28}} PrimeSense later announced that it had teamed up with Asus to develop a PC-compatible device similar to Kinect, which would be called Wavi Xtion and was scheduled for release in the second quarter of 2012.{{cite web|last=Murph |first=Darren |url=https://www.engadget.com/2011/01/11/asus-wavi-xtion-motion-sensing-control-system-demoed-at-ces/ |title=ASUS Wavi Xtion motion sensing control system demoed at CES (video) |publisher=Engadget.com |date=2011-01-11 |accessdate=2013-05-28}}

Their software is currently being used in a variety of open-source projects among academia and the hobbyist community. Recently, software companies have attempted to expand OpenNI's influence by making working with and integrating the technology dramatically simpler.{{cite web |url=http://eyeballOS.com |title=Plug-and-Play Kinect |publisher=Eyeball OS |date= |accessdate=2013-05-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130519095553/http://www.eyeballos.com/ |archive-date=2013-05-19 |url-status=dead }}

After the acquisition of PrimeSense by Apple, it was announced that the website OpenNI.org would be shut down on April 23, 2014.{{cite web|url=http://www.i-programmer.info/news/194-kinect/7004-openni-to-close-.html |title=OpenNI To Close|publisher=I-Programmer}} Immediately after the shutdown, organizations that used OpenNI subsequently preserved documentation and binaries for future use. Today, Occipital and other former partners of PrimeSense is still keeping a forked version of OpenNI 2 (OpenNI version 2) active as an open source software for their Structure SDK for their Structure Product.http://structure.io/openni Structure.io

Natural Interaction Devices or Natural Interfaces {{cite web|url=http://www.primesense.com/?p=1101|title=Natural Interaction and the Transformation of the Living Room Experience|work=primesense.com|accessdate=5 Jan 2011}} are devices that capture body movements and sounds to allow for a more natural interaction of users with computers {{cite web|url=http://www.v-net.tv/blog.aspx?id=498|title=Natural Interaction and transformation of the living room experience|work=v-net.tv|author=Uzi Breier|date=2 Sep 2010|accessdate=5 Jan 2011}} in the context of a Natural user interface. The Kinect and Wavi X-tion are examples of such devices.

The OpenNI framework provides a set of open source APIs. These APIs are intended to become a standard for applications to access natural interaction devices. The API framework itself is also sometimes referred to by the name OpenNI SDK.

The APIs provide support for {{Citation|title=OpenNI User Guide|url=http://www.openni.org/images/stories/pdf/OpenNI_UserGuide.pdf|accessdate=17 Jan 2011}}

• Voice and voice command recognition
• Hand gestures
• Body Motion Tracking

• PrimeSense - Natural Interaction & 3D Sensing
• Willow Garage - personal robotics applications
• ASUS - hardware manufacturer for full body motion apps and games

• FORTH ICS – Institute of Computer Science
• [http://www.tiptep.com TipTep]
• University of Southern California– 3D Face Modeling & Recognition
• Ayotle – Vision Software
• [http://www.sigmard.com SigmaRD]

• [http://www.lips-hci.com LIPS] - Provider of Time-of-Flight (ToF), Stereo, and Structure Light based 3D cameras that support OpenNI

• Natural user interface
• Organic user interface
• Kinect (previously known as Project Natal) and PrimeSense

{{Reflist}}

• [http://structure.io/openni Structure.io/OpenNI]
• [https://github.com/occipital/openni2 OpenNI2 source code repository, forked from PrimalSince OpenNI2 by Occipital]
• [http://community.openni.org/openni OpenNI Forums]
• [https://occipital.com/about]

Category:Application programming interfaces

Category:Standards organizations