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The Korean Demilitarized Zone is one of the most guarded borders in the world.
It's a 2.5 mile-wide area of land that serves to separate North and South Korea. (Via Wikimedia
Commons / United States Marine Corps)
And now it's being guarded by this. Yes, Microsoft's Kinect system is helping South Korean soldiers
keep an eye on the border. (Via Microsoft)
According to Kotaku, a South Korean programmer has developed a system that's being used to
monitor the Demilitarized Zone, and it all centers around the Kinect system — which
apparently recognizes things that cross the DMZ.
"It can discern the difference between animals and humans. If the system detects a human,
it will alert the nearby outpost."
And CNET notes the programmer likely had no idea his system would be used for such a task.
He was quoted as saying, "I've never even thought of a game system performing national
defense tasks."
Though the Kinect is no stranger to modifications. Here you can see it being used to assist a
doctor in surgery. (Via Microsoft)
And here it's being used with a projector to create some pretty amazing shadow puppets.
(Via YouTube / Pietro Guedes)
The system was actually introduced last August, but not much is known about it because of
national security concerns. The programmer says in the future he plans to update the
system to detect heat and heart rates.