Microsoft is bringing back Kinect for Sky TV

Sky has announced that it’s teaming up with Microsoft to bring a Kinect-like camera device to its new line of all-in-one televisions.

Sky Glass will be a new range of televisions that have Sky TV streaming built in, as well as 21 other entertainment apps at launch.

The TV will also have six speakers integrated and will support Dolby Vision, HDR 10 and Dolby Atmos sound, with the idea being a standalone TV that doesn’t require a soundbar, a satellite dish or an external Sky TV box.

However, The Verge reports that Sky is also planning to release a separate camera attachment called the Sky Glass Camera, which is being developed with Microsoft and appears to use Kinect technology.

The camera will let other Sky Glass owners watch TV together, using their cameras to see each other’s faces, similar to the Snap feature Xbox One originally launched with.

Users will also be able to pause and rewind streams as part of a group, as if they were all in the same room sharing a TV remote.

“Working with Microsoft we’re also building a fantastic feature that lets us watch TV together even if we’re miles apart,” Sky’s chief product officer Fraser Stirling explained in a statement.

“It syncs your TV with other households, with integrated video and chat on-screen, and you can choose content from the biggest channels, including Premier League matches, movies, and all your favourite entertainment.”

Sky Glass will also include a range of games that support the camera, including a Paw Patrol game and Fruit Ninja. The games appear to play exactly like Kinect games did, with the camera tracking the player’s movement.

The initial launch models of the Xbox One all shipped with a Kinect 2.0 camera included, as Microsoft was eager to make sure it would become an integral part of users’ entertainment needs.

However, the console’s Kinect integration was ultimately criticised and Microsoft started selling cheaper versions of the console without Kinect included, before ditching the peripheral altogether. The Xbox Series X and S do not support Kinect at all.