XBox 360 Kinect Cameras Watch for Autism

THE noise level is rising at the Shirley G. Moore Laboratory School. Children are charging through the classroom shouting, playing, picking up toys and tossing them around. All the while, in the corners of the room, five Kinect motion sensors watch and record their every move.

The unusual set-up at the University of Minnesota's Institute of Child Development in Minneapolis is designed to look for signs of behavioural disorders. The plan is to find out if Microsoft's gaming sensor, combined with computer-vision algorithms trained to detect behavioural abnormalities, can be used to automate the early diagnosis of autism.