Software
Below is some software you may find useful for your projects:
SDK for ASUS Xtion Pro Live / MS Kinect.
Supported OS: Ubuntu, Windows, OSX (Unstable branch)
There are several packages you can download:
OpenNI binaries is the required basic library.
OpenNI Compliant Middleware (i.e. NITE) is required for skeletal tracking.
OpenNI Compliant Hardware Binaries contains the PrimeSense drivers (for the Xtion).
NOTE: To use OpenNI with MS Kinect, you must download the above OpenNI packages from the unstable branch (don't worry about the "unstable" name, it should still work quite reliably) and also install the SensorKinect drivers.
Library containing extensive tools for manipulating 3D point clouds. It works with both ASUS Xtion Pro Live and MS Kinect.
Supported OS: Linux (various distributions, best on Ubuntu), Windows, OSX
IMPORTANT: PCL uses a customized version of OpenNI, which you should download from their website (e.g. using their All-in-one installer). You may run into weird crashes if you also install the official OpenNI in the link above.
SDK for MS Kinect only (does not work with ASUS Xtion)
Supported OS: Windows only
SDK for Intel's close-range RGB-D sensor. Not yet released to the public. We will send out download instructions when it is available to the class.
Supported OS: Windows
Software for exploring the universe.
Supported OS: Windows, Web (cross-platform) client
See also: UW Planetarium
Computer vision library that contains many tools for processing images.
Supported OS: Linux, Windows, OSX
A large framework for developing robot hardware and software. Contains APIs/bridging functions for accessing PCL and OpenCV. If you are not doing anything involving robots, it is probably easier to just use PCL and OpenCV standalone.
Supported OS: Linux, Windows, OSX