Microsoft Kinect Will be Used in Satellite Docking Operations

Sure beats playing games with it!

The Kinect is a pretty lackluster gaming peripheral, especially if you're into something besides casual games. And yes, 'Steel Battalion' may change our minds, but we're going to make fun of it all we want until then.

That doesn't mean Microsoft's motion sensing peripheral is useless though. The Kinect has been seeing use in a variety of non-gaming applications including the latest announced use – helping to dock satellites.

A pair of satellites known as STRaND-2 will be launching together, then separating, then docking with each other. Call it a proof of concept from Surrey Satellite Technology Limited (SSTL). "Once you can launch low cost nanosatellites that dock together, the possibilities are endless," says project lead Shaun Kenyon. He describes them as being "like space building blocks."

Source: Wired UK