Consumer Reports: Kinect ID problems related to light level, not skin color
by Alexander Sliwinski 
on Nov 5th 2010 2:30PM
Respected outlet Consumer Reports has concluded that the
Kinect ID functionality in Microsoft's new peripheral has equal difficulty recognizing users of
any skin tone in low light. The organization did a series of tests after
GameSpot reported that some of their darker-skinned staffers weren't being recognized by the Kinect. Consumer Reports states, "We did not experience any instance where one player was recognized and the other wasn't under the same lighting conditions."
To be clear, only the Kinect ID functionality is affected by lighting in the room, as gameplay uses an infrared system. CR noted that the claims against Kinect reminded the group of the "
racist HP laptop" situation from last year, which also came down to an issue of lighting in the room. Head on over to
Consumer Reports to see a video of their Kinect tests.
