Microsoft has launched a version of Kinect, its voice and motion-controlled sensor, to work with Windows-based PCs. It joins a previous version which was designed for the company’s Xbox 360 games console. This is all new hardware, which allows it to track movements as close as 40cm away, compared to 50cm on the original model.

The enhanced features of the device include “skeletal tracking” and improved speech recognition, as well as the cost of developing a device that works across several systems, rather than a single games console, which has to be good news. In spring 2011, Microsoft decided to release a software development kit which allowed coders to build their own software on the platform. This move has resulted in several innovative uses, including a control mechanism for a search-and-rescue robot, and a scanner to create blueprints for 3D printers.

Kinect holds the world record for being the fastest-selling consumer device in history, shifting over eight million units between November 2010 and January 2011 and recent figures suggest more than 18 million devices have now been sold.