Read more at source.
Read more at source.
The Kinect's popularity among ghost hunters stems from its ability to detect depth and create stick-figure representations of humanoid shapes. This makes it easier to identify potential human-like forms, even if faint or translucent. Ghost hunters like Billy Tolley and Zak Bagans from the Ghost Adventures YouTube channel have been using the Kinect to document their investigations, often capturing human-like figures where there are none.
The Kinect's structured light system is key to its usefulness in paranormal investigations. By projecting a grid of infrared dots into an environment and reading the resulting pattern, the Kinect can detect deformations in the projection. Through a machine-learning algorithm, it can discern human limbs within those deformations and convert that data into a visual representation of a stick figure. This feature, originally designed for games like Dance Central and Kinect Sports, is now being used to potentially detect and visualize spectral entities.
While the Kinect's use in ghost hunting has gained popularity, it also raises questions about the authenticity of the figures it produces. Given that the device was not designed for this purpose, skeptics question whether the figures are truly spectral entities or simply artifacts of the device's interpretation of the environment. Despite these questions, ghost hunters continue to use the Kinect, finding value in its unique ability to visualize potential spectral entities.
The Kinect's ability to convert the data from its body-tracking sensors into an on-screen skeletal dummy delights these investigators, who allege the figures it shows in empty space are, in fact, skeletons of the spooky, scary variety.
