Is Kinect Racist Against Black People?
At E3 2009, when Kinect (then Project Natal) was released, it caused great excitement among attendees. One thing that didn’t really get out much, was that people called Kinect racist. The thought was that Kinect had a hard time distinguishing the movements of a darker skinned person, and therefore would only be able to be played by lighter skinned people. So is Kinect racist?
How did this thought emerge?
At E3 2009, when Newsweek reporter N’Gai Croal tried playing Kinect, it didn’t work at all. Croal was black, and it seemed odd that it didn’t work. It seemed even more odd that other (white) people were able to use it just fine. One thought was that the infrared cameras, which is one major part that Kinect is based around, has a hard time with darker skin tones. Microsoft disagreed and said that Kinect was created to break down barriers to playing video games, not create new barriers.
So what’s the verdict… Is Kinect racist?
Kinect is not racist… though there may have been glitches with one person at E3 who tried to use it and was black, they were working with tech demos and early releases of the product. If that doesn’t prove to you that it isn’t racist, then hopefully these Kinect black people videos will help you to realize it was just a glitch and not a racist product.
Rap Artist, “The Game,” playing Kinect
Wayne Ellington and Jeremy Tyler playing Kinect
Sugar Ray Leonard, Eric Dickerson, and Willie Gault playing Kinect
Visitor at E3 trying out Kinect
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