We've been playing with a Kinect hooked up to a laptop for our highschool robotics team. This year's FIRST Robotics Competition Kit of Parts will include a kinect for teams to use. Won't know how it's to be used until January 7:
http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20111007005793/en/%C2%AE-Adds-Kinect-Xbox-360-Technology-High-School
It's been interesting to watch but one of the most fun things I found was that it can be interfaced with Scratch (MIT: http://scratch.mit.edu/ ) -- cool early programming tool. I think my 6 yo will soon be able to be introduced to Scratch. And it's a great learning tool throughout K-12 -- including being an easy interface for programming and demonstrating understanding of AP physics, etc...
Anyway, someone has written the interface (there's probably a much more appropriate computer-ese word) between the Kinect and Scratch so the kids can actually program with kinect input. (http://stephen-howell.tumblr.com/post/2652736960/scratch-and-kinect-find-instructions-on-doing)
Think we'll keep the kinect I bought -- and not buy an xbox to go with it -- lots of cool apps to download. Looks like it will work with Scratch, Greenfoot (similar learning tool for Java -- haven't used it yet). Nothing that I can find to interface with Alice. However, what a great tool for adding to kids' learning of programming -- beats the TRS-80 and Basic from when I was in high school.
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