;)
It's been a well publicized complaint that Kinect requires a huge chunk of room real estate to operate at its best. Unfortunately, we don't all live in mansions, leaving many of us with our backs pressed uncomfortably against walls to fully fit into the Kinect's field of vision, which is a recommended 8 to 9 feet away from the device. It was a huge pain in the ass for us with smaller living spaces, and pretty much made the Xbox motion device an impossibility to use in the limiting confines of Japanese households. As an answer to Kinect's greedy requirements, Nyko has created the simplest yet most ingenius peripheral; a pair of clip on glasses.
Zoom is a set of lenses that clip on over the Kinect's sensors and effectively reduce the required area by 40 percent. 9 feet becomes approximately 4 feet, which is a prayer answered for those who wanted in on the body-flailing fun, but don't have the suggested space, and are unwilling to move around furniture like Microsoft suggests. Feng shui is more important than motion gaming, isn't it?
Zoom for Kinect requires no installation, no batteries, no power cord, or anything else. It just clips onto your sensor and is ready to rock. Kudos to Nyko for making something so simple yet so useful. Of course, there's no guarantee that the thing will actually work, or if we'll have to pay $50 for piece of plastic, but the idea is promising. We'll give you more news as we get it.