Note: There were rumors, oh, so many rumors of what the new Kinect 2.0 could and how it would be able to perform.  Well, here is another confirmation, it can read sign language (it is also doing on the fly translation with Bing Translator.)

Note 2: This may actually be the first Kinect 1.0 as there is not a Kinect 2.0 for Windows yet.

New Kinect Can Read Human Sign-Language With Ease

Microsoft Kinect is creating quite a revolution in the field of Natural User Interface. The low cost 3D depth camera like Kinect opens up infinite possibilities in our computing world. Sign language is the primary language for many deaf and hard-of-hearing people, but currently it is not possible for these people to interact with computers using their native language. Microsoft Research Asia has developed a system using Kinect which can detect sign languages used by these people and it works well.

Here are some info on the project,

Kinect, with its ability to provide depth information and color data simultaneously, makes it easier to track hand and body actions more accurately—and quickly.

In this project—which is being shown during the DemoFest portion of Faculty Summit 2013, which brings more than 400 academic researchers to Microsoft headquarters to share insight into impactful research—the hand tracking leads to a process of 3-D motion-trajectory alignment and matching for individual words in sign language. The words are generated via hand tracking by the Kinect for Windows software and then normalized, and matching scores are computed to identify the most relevant candidates when a signed word is analyzed.

The algorithm for this 3-D trajectory matching, in turn, has enabled the construction of a system for sign-language recognition and translation, consisting of two modes. The first, Translation Mode, translates sign language into text or speech. The technology currently supports American sign language but has potential for all varieties of sign language.

The second, Communications Mode, enables communications between a hearing person and a deaf or hard-of-hearing person by use of an avatar. Guided by text input from a keyboard, the avatar can display the corresponding sign-language sentence. The deaf or hard-of-hearing person responds using sign language, and the system converts that answer into text.

http://microsoft-news.com/new-kinect-can-read-human-sign-language-with-ease/

I'll enjoy giving it the finger then!

In all seriousness, this is going to be incredibly useful for a large amount of those with disabilities, might nag the boss to see if they are interested in throwing one in at work.

That's quite impressive

That's awesome!

They should advertise this once they get going

..or you could google around a little and discover that many systems like these have existed for years. All use standard webcams (a 3D camera is not required for this to work).

Video game systems?  Whether it existed already isn't the point. We're gamers.  Adding the functionality to games is the draw, here.  Nintendo has been adding existing tech for years and I always appreciated it. Cut Microsoft some slack. A small piece of slack, though.  Not too big. Don't want them getting arrogant.

Is signing faster then typing and reading text? What's the advantage?
Is it true that there is only 1 universal sign language and you can communicate with everyone on the world who knows sign language. Or is that just a myth? If true, presto universal translator! Convert language A to sign language, convert back to language B...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sign_language