Kinect Server

Kinect Server is a wrapper for Microsoft Kinect V2, implemented as a Web Socket server, optimized for browser access. The Kinect Server enables browser-based interactive applications with Kinect, using technologies such as WebGL, with libraries such as THREE.JS, a Javascript 3D library, and p5.js.

How to use Kinect Server

You should run the Kinect Server application in the same computer where Kinect device is connected to. Make sure Kinect is working properly, by testing with the Kinect Studio tool. Once Kinect Server () is running, it will start accepting web socket connections to ws://127.0.0.1:8000/kinectservice/depth

Web Socket client example

Here a web socket client was created as part of a P5.JS sketch, and the position of the hands is steering the animation in the browser.

A more ellaborate approach is to connect to the Kinect depth stream, and use the depth image to drive an interactive panel. For more details on this project, check Interactive Gallery project.

Example of client code in Javascript

I recommend to encapsulate the Kinect client in a Worker:

    this.kinectWorker = new Worker("/Scripts/kinectWorker.js");

Example for kinectWorker.js:

function KinectConnect(serverUrl) {
    if (ws !== undefined && ws.readyState === 0) {//CONNECTING
        return;
    }
    if (ws !== undefined && ws.readyState === 1) {//OPEN
        ws.close();
    }
    ws = new WebSocket(serverUrl);

    ws.binaryType = "arraybuffer";

    ws.onopen = function () {
        postMessage({
            status: "Connected"
        });
    };

    ws.onmessage = function (evt) {
        if (evt.data instanceof ArrayBuffer) {
            postMessage(evt.data, [evt.data]);
        } else {
            //If not a ArrayBuffer, treat it as status message
            MessageReceived({
                status: evt.data
            });
        }
    };

    ws.onerror = function (evt) {        
        //Note that ws.onerror does not give details about the error
        //See https://www.w3.org/TR/websockets/#concept-websocket-close-fail
        postMessage({
            err: "An error occurred while stablishing a connection to the server. Please make sure Kinect is connected and server is running."
        });

    }
}