Kinect for Windows SDK Programming Guide

Abhijit Jana

Kinect has been a game-changer in the world of motion games and applications since its first release. It has been touted as a controller for Microsoft Xbox but is much more than that. The developer version of Kinect, Kinect for Windows SDK, provides developers with the tools to develop applications that run on Windows. You can use this to develop applications that make interaction with your computer hands-free. This book focuses on developing applications using the Kinect for Windows SDK. It is a complete end to end solution using different features of Kinect for Windows SDK with step by step guidance. The book will also help you develop motion sensitive and speech recognition enabled applications. You will also learn about building application using multiple Kinects.The book begins with explaining the different components of Kinect and then moves into to the setting up the device and getting thedevelopment environment ready. You will be surprised at how quickly the book takes you through the details of Kinect APIs. You will use NUI to use the Kinect for Natural Inputs like skeleton tracking, sensing, speech recognizing. You will capture different types of stream, and images, handle stream event, and capture frame. Kinect device contains a motorized tilt to control sensor angles, you will learn how to adjust it automatically. The last part of the book teaches you how to build application using multiple Kinects and discuss how Kinect can be used to integrate with other devices such as Windows Phone and microcontroller.

Python: Master the Art of Design Patterns. Click here to enter text

Dusty Phillips, Chetan Giridhar, Sakis Kasampalis

Python is an object-oriented scripting language that is used in everything from data science to web development. Known for its simplicity, Python increases productivity and minimizes development time. Through applying essential software engineering design patterns to Python, Python code becomes even more efficient and reusable from project to project. This learning path takes you through every traditional and advanced design pattern best applied to Python code, building your skills in writing exceptional Python. Divided into three distinct modules, you’ll go from foundational to advanced concepts by following a series of practical tutorials.Start with the bedrock of Python programming – the object-oriented paradigm. Rethink the way you work with Python as you work through the Python data structures and object-oriented techniques essential to modern Python programming. Build your confidence as you learn Python syntax, and how to use OOP principles with Python tools such as Django and Kivy.In the second module, run through the most common and most useful design patterns from a Python perspective. Progress through Singleton patterns, Factory patterns, Façade patterns and more all with detailed hands-on guidance. Enhance your professional abilities in in software architecture, design, and development.In the final module, run through the more complex and less common design patterns, discovering how to apply them to Python coding with the help of real-world examples. Get to grips with the best practices of writing Python, as well as creating systems architecture and troubleshooting issues.This Learning Path combines some of the best that Packt has to offer in one complete, curated package. It includes content from the following Packt products:? Python 3 Object-Oriented Programming - Second Edition by Dusty Phillips? Learning Python Design Patterns - Second Edition by Chetan Giridhar? Mastering Python Design Patterns by Sakis Kasampalis

Clean Android Architecture. Take a layered approach to writing clean, testable, and decoupled Android applications

Alexandru Dumbravan, Ed Price

As an application’s code base increases, it becomes harder for developers to maintain existing features and introduce new ones. In this clean architecture book, you'll learn to identify when and how this problem emerges and how to structure your code to overcome it.The book starts by explaining clean architecture principles and Android architecture components and then explores the tools, frameworks, and libraries involved. You’ll learn how to structure your application in the data and domain layers, the technologies that go in each layer, and the role that each layer plays in keeping your application clean. You’ll understand how to arrange the code into these two layers and the components involved in assembling them. Finally, you'll cover the presentation layer and the patterns that can be applied to have a decoupled and testable code base.By the end of this architecture book, you'll be able to build an application following clean architecture principles and have the knowledge you need to maintain and test the application easily.

Kinect in Motion - Audio and Visual Tracking by Example. Start building for the Kinect today by capturing gestures, movements, and spoken voice commands

massimo fascinari, Clemente Giorio

Kinect is a motion-sensing input device by Microsoft for the Xbox 360 video game console and Windows PCs. It provides capabilities to enhance human-machine interaction along with a zero-to-hero journey to engage the user in a multimodal interface dialog with your software solution.Kinect in Motion - Audio and Visual Tracking by Example guides you in developing more than five models you can use to capture gestures, movements, and voice spoken commands. The examples and the theory discussed provide you with the knowledge to let the user become a part of your application.Kinect in Motion - Audio and Visual Tracking by Example is a compact reference on how to master color, depth, skeleton, and audio data streams handled by Kinect for Windows.Starting with an introduction to Kinect and its characteristics, you will first be shown how to master the color data stream with no more than one page of lines of code. Learn how to manage the depth information and map them against the color ones. You will then learn how to define and manage gestures that enable the user to instruct the application simply by moving arms or any other type of natural action. Finally you will complete your journey through a multimodal interface, combining gestures with audio.The book will lead you through many detailed, real-world examples, and even guide you on how to test your application.

Mastering QGIS. Go beyond the basics and unleash the full power of QGIS with practical, step-by-step examples

Martin Dobias, Richard Smith Jr., GISP, John Van Hoesen, ...

Application Development in iOS 7

Kyle Begeman

Learning Bing Maps API. Bing Maps are a great resource and very versatile when you know how. And this book will show you how, covering everything from embedding on a web page to customizing with your own styles and geo-data

Artan Sinani

Provided as a part of Microsoft's Bing suite of search engines, Bing Maps is a web mapping service powered by the Bing Maps for Enterprise framework. The need for geospatial data has increased dramatically in the last few years. Adding a mapping context to any location-based data is becoming more and more common, and businesses are embracing it to improve their user experience with new data richness. Comprising of simple, follow-along examples, Learning Bing Maps API will show you how to use the many features of Bing Maps, from dropping a simple map on a web page, to fetching geospatial data from the Microsoft servers. Through the course of this book you will build a solid foundation for creating your own geo-applications.Following the hands-on recipes of this book, you will build a different web app in each chapter as you communicate with different APIs provided by Bing Maps. You will build your own library of JavaScript modules that talk to the Microsoft Maps API.You will create a custom theme for the map, with your own controls. Taking advantage of the global reach of Bing Maps, you will learn how to build a route scheduler for a delivery company in Madrid, Spain, and then you will discover how to create jobs on the Bing Maps servers for geocoding addresses in California, USA. By the end of the book you will have learned everything you need to know to embed a map on a web page, with your own geo-data, or data obtained by the Bing Map Services.

Draw and Paint Better with Krita. Discover pro-level techniques and practices to create spectacular digital illustrations with Krita

Wesley Gardner

Krita is a free, open-source digital painting program with industry-leading functionality and a creative suite of tools able to bring any visual idea to life. It allows for a fast, clean approach to creating digital art, without the hassle of pay-to-play or subscription license fees, but just like all other art software, it takes time and effort to learn it.This book provides a comprehensive look into functional tools, visual problem-solving, and leading painting techniques using Krita to unleash your inner artist. You’ll learn the functionality and tools of Krita for creating digital and print-quality work as well as explore manipulation toolsets, custom brush creation, overviews of color spaces, and layer management. As you progress, you’ll get to grips with ‘key styles’ needed to make professional-grade digital art, through techniques such as photobashing, 3D paint-overs, and more traditional painting methods, along with covering how Krita handles these workflows. Next, you’ll work through a few step-by-step art pieces using the skills and tools learned throughout the book.By the end of this Krita book, you’ll have a solid understanding of the Krita work environment and be able to bring your artistic visions to life with a myriad of leading industry-standard techniques.