Eleven finalists have been chosen from over 500 applicants for the Kinect Accelerator, the incubator project being run by Microsoft and TechStars.
As we reported when the Kinect Accelerator was announced last November, Microsoft was offering ten companies the opportunity to take advantage of $20,000 of funding, three months free office space in Seattle, development tools (the Windows Kinect SDK and an Xbox development kit) plus technical training, support and mentoring from Microsoft BizSpark and TechStars.
Microsoft had been hoping for 100 to 150 applications but in the event almost 500 were received and now, rather than ten, eleven ventures have been selected, with the chosen participants coming from Argentina, Canada, France and Germany as well as from within the US.
The selected projects span a wide range of possible uses for a Kinect sensor, including a low-cost 3D scanner,a volumetric 3d display, animation, medical technology, althletic training, furniture and fashion retailing, and healthcare applications.
Microsoft has promised to provide more details as the incubator program takes shape over the next three months. At the end of the period the projects will be showcased at a TechStars-organized Demo Day when the finalists can pitch their ideas to potential investors and, hopefully, secure further funding.
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