How to Troubleshoot your Kinect Using Kinect Tuner for Xbox 360?

Answer 1

The Kinect Tuner is a piece of proprietary software that is loaded onto the Xbox 360 console when the Kinect is first attached successfully to the system, over Xbox Live in the form of a software update.

What Does Kinect Tuner Do?

Kinect Tuner is the best way to sort out any sort of technical or hardware problems you seem to be having with the Kinect hardware. The free troubleshooting software helps the console to best distinguish what each individual gamer's play space might look like, and can adjust the Kinect sensor accordingly.

Tuning your Video Capture with Kinect Tuner

The Kinect Tuner software will first attempt to refine your video capture to best suit the lighting conditions as well as the play space / confines of the room you are in. Users will see a highly stylized infra-red like image with joint tracking show up on the screen, along with the option to decide which function to correct.

Tracking is the first menu option, and that's the one users will want if they are having problems with visual recognition or accuracy from the Kinect. Selecting this option will immediately bring up the sensor positioning screen. If at all possible, the Kinect unit should be placed two to six feet from the ground, centered either above or below your television.

Next, remain still while the Kinect chooses it's default viewing angle. This will be the field of view that it will set, and so it is important to remain still and to stand in the center of your presumed playfield.

Lastly, the Kinect will attempt to perform a tracking test, and further a photographic test to see if the hardware can detect your facial features. This can be problematic if you have a light source set up behind you (ideally, you will want the light source to be placed behind the television and the Kinect hardware.

How to Tune your Audio and Microphone Settings with Kinect Tuner

The Kinect can also be used as a microphone in terms of chatting with friends over Xbox Live or when using voice activated commands to navigate your Xbox 360.

Try to reduce the levels of ambient noise in the room for this portion of the test, as it requires a momentary bit of relative silence in which to accurately calibrate itself. For the most part, this test is extremely straightforward so long as you follow the onscreen instructions.

Calibrating the Kinect to Larger and Smaller Rooms

The final step of completing the Kinect Tuner set-up is to choose the Calibration option from the main menu and to follow the pursuant on-screen instructions. You will require the calibration card from the inner sleeve of any Kinect game – it resembles a cassette tape with a smiley face on it.

The Xbox will request that you place the face at precise distances and orientations in order to figure an accurate degree of depth perception and total play space.

Following this calibration, your Kinect hardware should be perfectly attuned to your play space and to your lighting conditions and ambient sound. Get up, move a little, and be sure to have fun!