Kinect Fun Labs

Kinect Fun Labs launched last year with little mention of it's release but you'd be hard pressed not to know it exists as it's is continually advertised in the bottom corners of various screens of the new Xbox Dashboard.  So what is the Fun Labs, well simply put it is a collection of little gadgets that you can download and use with your Kinect sensor to show the sort of things that the Kinect is capable of.  In fairness the gadgets are not what you would call amazing single games but more technical demos of the Kinect's abilities that you can play yourself.  Here are the gadgets available and a quick overview:

Kinect Me
This gadget is essentially a full body scanner where you first scan your head and then your body and Kinect Me will create an generated version of you to the best of it's abilities.  After creating you pose for photos with your virtual you, can add a voice message to go with the snaps and finally can upload it to the KinectShare website.  There is no much else to this gadget but it demonstrates the capabilities of face scanning within a game to quickly and effortlessly put your face into an in-game character.  That said maybe with better lighting, my avatar would have looked alot more like me.

Googly Eyes
Much like Kinect Me, Googly Eyes involves scanning things into the gadget but instead of yourself this time you scan in objects.  Once you have scanned in the front and back of the object, it will attempt to render the object as best it can while also adding a pair of Googly Eyes.  Once created you can control your object with your body and then record a short video skit to upload.  If your children are a fan of the kids TV show Ooglies then there is some fun for them in creating there very own 'ooglies'.  This gadget does however have limited lifespan to grown ups and it is advisable not to play it for to long or the Googly Eyes song will be stuck in your head for days.

Those two gadgets are your starting set but there are a few more that you can download to further experience the Kinect's capabilities.  There is Bobble Head where you use the same scanning method as in Kinect Me to create your very own BobbleHead Figurine of yourself and record an audio message which plays whenever you smack your figurine upside the head.  Build-A-Buddy consists once again as an updated version of Googly Eyes where you scan in an object of your choosing.  This time round you can choose 3 either-or personalities traits for your object and once your choices are made and your buddy is 'hatched', you get to play some very basic repeat the action games with your buddy.  Unlike the others there is some aspect of gameplay to this gadget but the same visual issues of to much movement and your buddy becomes some deformed evil dead looking creature are still evident.

Other gadgets include Microsoft's avatar chatroom suite showcase Avatar Kinect, your own personal carnival house of mirrors effect gadget Mutation Station, Kinect boxing but with a twist by using your scanned objects as fighters in Battle Stuff and perform 5 songs in your own air rock band in Air Band.  Each of these gadgets are currently free to download and play with 2 other gadgets available but at a cost of 240 points.  These two priced gadgets are Kinect Sparkler which is the first gadget that tracks finger movement and allows you to create sparkler drawn pictures, and Musical Feet which can be thought of as a virtual floor keyboard which allows multiple people to play the keys and create music to share.

Although none of these gadgets are overly amazing or awe-inspiring, unlikely to divert your attention from real games for more than 15 minutes they are however great examples of what the Kinect can do and a look into what the future may hold for the Kinect Sensor and it's abilities.  If you are also looking to an easy 400 gamerscore to add to your collection there are few easier ways in which to get them, even though it will take a little while of your time.  The only other thing worth mentioning is that Kinect Fun Labs does not appear in your Games or Apps menu and the only way I've found to access it is to go to the point of downloading it again and once the prompt appears to download, select Play Now.  This in itself can be infuriating but if you want to see what the Kinect can do and fancy an easy addition to your gamerscore total then it's something you'll get used to.