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Apple is shutting down OpenNI
- spot 13y agothere doesn't seem to be any explanation of how/why apple is doing this. anyone know what's up?
- roc 13y agoThe same thing that was "up" when they bought Siri, Inc (from SRI International). They acquired a technology that they're going to use to differentiate their products. And apparently they feel it's a more strategic technology than, say, WebKit or LLVM.
- pkinsky 13y agoWhat does this mean for the Structure Sensor's integration with OpenNI? (https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/occipital/structure-sensor-capture-the-world-in-3d#project_faq_68196 https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/occipital/structure-sen...)
- jonmrodriguez 13y agoHopefully one of the OpenNI open-source forks will emerge as the de facto "main" fork, and everyone will use that.
- reteltech 13y agoPkinsky - Adam from Occipital here (we make the Structure Sensor). As of now, you can use OpenNI with the Structure Sensor on any platforms currently supported by OpenNI. We’ve also forked OpenNI on GitHub (along with many others who have done the same) to make sure it remains available after April 23rd. For those who don’t want to compile code, we’ll also host binaries at http://structure.io/developers http://structure.io/developers for OS X and potentially other platforms. We’re working on creating new open source Structure Sensor drivers for Android, Linux, Windows and OS X (these are not based on OpenNI at all). Let us know if you’d like to contribute to that effort by sending us an email at structure >at< occipital.com. Keep in mind that the discontinuation of active maintenance for OpenNI does not affect the Structure Sensor for iOS at all because on iOS, we use Structure SDK, not OpenNI. Keep an eye on http://structure.io/developers http://structure.io/developers, or sign up for the Structure SDK developer email list for more info.
- pkinsky 13y agoAwesome, thanks for the quick reply!
- joekr 13y agoFor how long will you be able to provide the hardware? You are using prime sense sensors so Apple could shut you down anytime, no ?
- reteltech 13y agoDespite Apple’s acquisition of PrimeSense, we're on track to fulfill all existing Structure Sensor demand and beyond. Interruptions are possible if we have supply chain issues, but we're optimistic that we'll be able to deliver Structure Sensors for the foreseeable future.
- MrQuincle 13y agoIt's just what Ben Farrell predicted: http://www.benfarrell.com/2013/11/28/primesense-purchased-by-apple/ http://www.benfarrell.com/2013/11/28/primesense-purchased-by.... Apparently I have to buy something with a fruit symbol on it, to be able to develop for 3D sensors in the future...
- lucian1900 13y agoThere's Google's Project Tango [0] as well. 0. http://www.google.com/atap/projecttango/ http://www.google.com/atap/projecttango/
- MrQuincle 13y agoYes, Tango is cool, but I think everybody on the earth tried to get a kit. :-) I did. So not much luck getting that soon. Just now I'm working on the Leap to control my television. :-)
- rasz_pl 13y agohttps://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7274204 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7274204 basically build your own Tango https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E35xbo3r8rA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E35xbo3r8rA https://github.com/nymanjens/ardrone-exploration https://github.com/nymanjens/ardrone-exploration
- esonderegger 13y agoThis is when I'm especially thankful for open source licenses. The OpenNI2 repository on github currently has 148 forks: https://github.com/OpenNI/OpenNI2 https://github.com/OpenNI/OpenNI2 I've been using OpenNI2 with ROS and an ASUS Xtion Pro Live for object detection and avoidance. What I think the community is missing is missing right now isn't really on the software side, but is good, cheap, hardware. I'd be thrilled if I could buy a Carmine or something like it from Apple, but I don't see how it makes any business sense.
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- FR6 13y agoApple does not want to contribute to the open source community?
- patrickyeon 13y agoIs there more information available than just that quick statement on the front page? The about page calls openNI a consortium and lists 5 founding companies [1]. [1] http://www.openni.org/organization/ http://www.openni.org/organization/
- emersive 13y agoRight before they are set to release a new version of the Apple TV. I wouldn't be surprised if these two things are related.
- untog 13y agoWhy would they be related?
- socialist_coder 13y agowell, you can put a kinect type camera on the tv and then use it for gesture based input. just like kinect. so theoretically maybe people could make kinect apps for apple tv / iOS? (sorry, i'm using the term "kinect" since i'm not sure what the real term is for this type of thing)
- mindstab 13y agoI bought a DepthSense 325 which is the chip behind the new Creative / Intel 3d cam coming out http://www.softkinetic.com/en-us/products/depthsensecameras.aspx http://www.softkinetic.com/en-us/products/depthsensecameras....
- nnunley 13y agoSo, is there anywhere that indicates that the github codebase (under the apache license) @ https://github.com/OpenNI/OpenNI2 https://github.com/OpenNI/OpenNI2 is also going to be scuttled? Or just the website?
- nitrogen 13y agoThis is exactly what we knew would happen. Apple is not our friend. They are at best an ally, and at worst prepared to destroy an industry for the sake of profit and domination.
- piyush_soni 13y agoThis. For some, this is SO hard to understand.
- iwasakabukiman 13y agoYou could make that argument about any company.
- wutbrodo 13y agoLike Mozilla? Cloudera? any other open-source company? I know hyperbolic statements are fashionable, but this one isn't really true.
- al2o3cr 13y ago"They are at best an ally, and at worst prepared to destroy an industry for the sake of profit and domination." This is everybody in the industry. Convince yourself otherwise at your own peril.
- ivanca 13y agoYeah, but is a bit different when you are so big that you crush everywhere you walk.
- npsimons 13y agoThis is everybody in the industry. Convince yourself otherwise at your own peril. Really? Even open source projects? Or let me guess, you'd argue that open source projects aren't part of the "industry".
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- stcredzero 13y agoBetween this and Testflight, I get the impression that Apple wants to rule its app ecosystem in the feudal sense. Whatever "indy" contingent there is, it is just meant to effectively be the bush leagues for the major league, which is Apple itself. Hopefully, Apple will realize that it's sometimes better to co-opt than to control, especially when what you'd be trying to control is an ecosystem experiencing dramatic growth. It's this kind of realization that resulted in the iOS App Store in the first place. That said, Apple is in a good position to continue its feudal rule, for now, as (IIRC) Apple's income is far larger than that produced by the App Stores in aggregate. This would be analogous to the late Middle Ages when the rise of the merchants began, but their wealth and power were still dwarfed by the feudal power structure and the church. The merchants were useful to the existing power structure, but still had to kowtow to it. So the way to defeat Apple, if that's what you want to do, is to foster the growth of a better ecosystem than the iOS App Store. (Or, it could be worse, but still bigger, unfortunately.)
- cjensen 13y agoNonsense! Shutdown of existing product is a pretty common outcome for any acquisition In some cases like Google acquiring Sparrow, it's because the acquisition was really a case of hiring an entire team. In other cases, the shutdown is so the acquisition can focus their efforts on a new product. This is clearly the latter case. I know that in some circles folks make Apple out to be some sort of evil. Be careful that your bias doesn't lead you to make claims that are unsupported by evidence.
- nitrogen 13y agoIf you define "good" as spreading knowledge and access to technology across all platforms, and "evil" as shutting down multi-platform technologies and restricting them to just one walled-garden ecosystem, then Apple is definitely "evil" in this instance.
- Gorbzel 13y agoI'll hedge a bit (I don't know much about OpenNI), but I'd posit you're interpreting Apple's moves entirely wrong, mixed in with a bit of entrenched anti-Apple fandom (based solely on you advising folks on how to defeat them). At the very least, you're definitely interpreting the situation based solely on Apple's role in owning the app store, and not of the company as a whole. While I don't know about the OP open source project, as a iOS dev I know quite a bit about using Testflight. The feudal analogy really breaks down there; this has nothing to do with ruling the app world, it's a technical decision based on code-signing and app distribution. Apple came up with the system that does that, and TestFlight made it about 100x better, so Apple acquired them (and are now working on making the 1st party system infinitely better). Historically, Apple has most all their projects in-house in order to focus solely on the product and the way technology integrates. So when they close on an acquisition, it's very common for Cupertino to EOL other efforts at make the new hires and technology part of the company. When that's your approach to design, there's very little reason to support open source libraries and other projects other than your own.
- frik 13y agoError establishing a database connection ...Website down; some info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OpenNI http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OpenNI
- rsp1984 13y agoThose who are looking for the OpenNI drivers, they are still open source and can be downloaded through https://github.com/OpenNI/OpenNI2 https://github.com/OpenNI/OpenNI2
- nickbauman 13y agoFor how much longer will the drivers remain open? Microsoft was able to kill OSS libraries that made calls to DirectX and OpenGL hardware interchangeable. Seems like Apple would like you to get their permi$$ion from now on and could do the same.
- joekr 13y agoIt is not about the software. OpenNI is useless if there are NO MORE sensors. Xtion, structio.io all based in prime sense sensors !
- based2 13y agohttps://code.google.com/p/interactive-spaces/ https://code.google.com/p/interactive-spaces/ https://github.com/interactivespaces/interactivespaces https://github.com/interactivespaces/interactivespaces
- Gracana 13y agoWhy does the title say Apple is shutting down OpenNI, then link to a page that says nothing about it? Furthermore, how do you shut down someone else's company, and how do you shut down a project whose code is freely available? This doesn't make sense.
- rsp1984 13y agoThe page states prominently that the website will be closed after April 23rd. Primesense is Apple's property. Apple can do whatever it wants with it. Lastly the open source code will still be available, only the website will shut down as far as I understand it.
- omershapira 13y agoThe story is a change of paradigm as well. Primesense sold depth capture hardware, the kind that made lot of open source projects possible. Killing openNI is the final nail in this coffin. The open source depth capture world is left in a void right now, and this being open source, it'll take a while before any competitor will make their API work with all that we've been making.
- nickbauman 13y agoWhat about libfreenect? https://github.com/OpenKinect/libfreenect https://github.com/OpenKinect/libfreenect
- omershapira 13y agoThey do different things. Not clear what can be discussed online, but the Kinect 1 is on its way out, and there's no open source replacement as of yet.
- Qworg 13y agoThe OpenKinect group is working on the Kinect One. You can totally come participate - https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/openkinect https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/openkinect
- nickbauman 13y agoRight now I can buy a used Kinect for about $35.00 and write code using OpenNI that gives me access to the 3D depth map from the Kinect. If I can't do this anymore, what is my recourse? Will libfreenect remain open?
- Qworg 13y agolibfreenect will remain open. PCL and OpenCV will similarly remain open. The loss of Primesense is the loss of NITE. The only recourse is a team building an open source skeletonization alternative.
- nickbauman 13y agoIt's more profitable when things can't interoperate.