Chief executive officer of Microsoft Corp. confirmed in an interview an intention of the world's largest software makers to enable support for motion sensing by personal computers. He did not say when the company may actually reveal appropriate functionality and whether it is a part of the next-generation operating system.

"We will support [motion sensing on PC] in a formal way, at the right time, and when we have an announcement to make we will make it," said Steve Ballmer, chief executive officer of Microsoft, in an interview with BBC.

Kinect, Microsoft's motion sensor for Xbox 360 has already been hacked to be used on the PC for various things. Moreover, Edge Magazine also notes that PrimeSense, the firm that supplied the depth sensor used in Kinect, recently announced that it had teamed up with Asustek Computer to release a motion sensor for personal computers later in 2011.

Considering that at present Microsoft does not need a rival for its Xbox 360 platform with motion sensor just now, it is unlikely that the software giant will enable Kinect support by Windows 7. Naturally, third parties like Asustek can develop their own motion sensors as well as write applications that support them.

Instead of implementing Kinect-like technology on Windows 7, Microsoft may try to persuade hardware manufacturers to integrate motion sensors (which consist of depth and RGB cams) into their next-generation PCs that will run on Windows 8. In this case the company will ensure that Kinect becomes an established platform for gaming, its next-gen Windows will sport a unique feature, hardware makers will ensure that people will need a new PC or an add-on for full Windows 8 experience and software makers will have ability to innovate.

Windows 8 is due in 2012, based on latest rumours.

Tags: Microsoft, Kinect, Windows