A leaked Xbox One has revealed exactly how improved Microsoft's next-generation Kinect is for smaller play areas. While the company promised improvements for use in smaller environments, a setup manual (PDF) shows the new Kinect will work at a minimum distance of 1.4 meters (4.59 feet). The existing Kinect sensor for Xbox 360 works at a minimum distance of 1.8 meters (6 feet) for one player gaming, and 2.4 meters (8 feet) for two players.

It's around a 20 percent improvement and it should make things easier for gamers in smaller apartments. It's not clear from the manual whether there's any restrictions on the play area for the Kinect on Xbox One. The existing Xbox 360 version requires a play space of at least 1.8 meters (6 feet) that's free of furniture. Microsoft has made some significant improvements to its latest Kinect sensor, adding an ultra-wide 1080p camera, and the ability to see in the dark, track heart rates, and more. Although it's a core part of the Xbox One offering, bundled in every box, Microsoft altered its policies recently to allow use of the console without the Kinect sensor plugged in. Microsoft is planning to release its Xbox One console in less than a month on November 22nd.

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not sure how legit the document is but it looks pretty offical looking.  so at least a good fake if fake.

That's good, enough for multiplayer for me. What would be better is if they could somehow upgrade over time via firmware.

it might be just enought for me to play single player.  i actually just got out the tape measure and from my tv to the front edge of my couch is 6'4".    then measuring from the bottom of my foot to the top of my knee is 1'11" which means if i stood exactly at the 4.59" mark i could pick up my leg (to like run in place or whatever) and just miss hiting my couch with the back of my foot.

*nerd alert*

Haha, I got out the old tape measure too. From what I remember though some games are far more forgiving with space requirements. Rare kinect games (which is just Kinect Sports) is very greedy and actually needed a little more if I remember.

I mean this is all good and well but if there are no Kinect games it's pointless -_- they better have more than just Kinect Sports.

kinect sports, xbox fitness, fighter within, zumba, just dance, and fantasia.

nothing all that compelling though. 

Oh, I'm actually excited about Xbox Fitness.

Surprised a new Dance Central hasn't been announced yet.

looks like 3 came out last holiday.   4 will probably be next holiday so maybe an E3 annoucement.

This is the only thing I dont like about kinect. Im glad they made it have shorter distance but none the less people who want to take full advantage of kinect with stuff like Xbox Fitness will need a lot of space to do so. Something not everybody has.

This is good news. Also, it doesn't need to tilt anymore. I use my Kinect at 5 feet much of the time for single player and it works fine. Also, because my place is small, I put it up high, it helps me sneak in a little extra space.

I was really hoping the Nyko Zoom was going to help, but after the reviews I didn't even bother. I think they also had a few waves of updates to Kinect 1.0, as it works better now than when I first got it. So it isn't even an issue with needing the Zoom anymore.

Note: Those living in a small space, it's really useful to learn how to tune your Kinect 1.0 - you can manually adjust the tilt up and down with your controller. This can be useful, but will not be needed with Kinect 2.0. Also remember to calibrate your sound - so it takes that out from your system and can hear you better.

TL/DR: Kinect works pretty well for me in my small space. This should only be better.

That was to be expected from the increased FOV of Kinect 2.0

Kinect 2.0 512x424 FOV 70 degrees by 60 degrees
Kinect 1.0 320x240 FOV 57.5 degrees by 43.5 degrees

That also means that the resolution increase is only about 30% effectively from the same distance.
It's a different measuring technique though, we'll see soon enough how it works in the real world.