Kinect hack makes you the Man of Steel(video)

Every comic book fan has pretended to be Superman at one point or another, but students at the University of Amsterdam have taken the fantasy one step further with a first-person simulator that makes you feel like the Man of Steel.


The students used a hacked Kinect sensor to map body movements to a Superman character model. Holding one arm out will launch Superman into the air, while using both will triple your speed, and the direction you point in determines the flight path.

That's pretty cool by itself, but they also hooked up the display to a pair of virtual reality glasses that place the camera inside Superman's head. The Kinect sensor tracks your head movement and rotates the camera accordingly to create an extremely immersive experience.

If flying around a virtual Metropolis still isn't enough, the students also added laser vision and ice breath, activated by touching the glasses on the right or left. Up, up and away!