The Xbox Kinect is a machine of much ambition, giving the Xbox One a sense of identity in the next generation of gaming console. If you're just telling the Kinect to put the volume up or down on your television, or if you're offering commands to your squadmates in Battlefield 4, or if your heartbeat is being measured while underdoing a strenuous workout in Xbox Fitness, the Xbox One's Kinect is a marvel of technology.




Of course, that marvel in technology is still a bit fidgety for some folks out there who cannot get the device to work as well as it should. Certain commands do not go through. Words are confused for others, especially on the Xbox OneGuide with thousands of channel options to choose from. Noisy rooms can provide a strain on the Kinect.

Some of these problems are still being worked out, but you can maximize your Xbox One's Kinect performance by following simple guidelines that can take away some of the work that the Kinect has to do on its part.

Tips and Tricks

• While setting up your Kinect, make certain that your fingers or the palms of your hands are by interferring with the Kinect signal by touching it in any way. This will disrupt and distort the signal the Kinect receives throughout the room, making it tougher for the Kinect to understand the lay of the land.
  Make sure when you are displaying your Xbox One's Kinect hardware that it is not surrounded by other electronics or laying too low to the ground, as the Kinect should oversee the surroundings as opposed to being encroached by them. An ideal scenario is to place the Kinect above the television, though that is a tough reality for many users. A typical solution is to set it on your television stand in front of the TV.
  
• When directing Kinect, take note of the central pop-up hub for Kinect's voice commands. If it pops up, you were too slow to speak your command. Simply state "Go back" and choose your destination from the screen you were previously on.
  
• When initially setting up Kinect (or to improve Kinect's performance) ensure the room is absolutely quiet during the audio portion. Also, make sure the tv is turned up a bit. Kinect uses the quiet room as a baseline and the tv feedback for noise cancelling. This will improve Kinect hearing you over your tv or others in your room (i.e. you won't have to scream at Kinect).

SPEECH TUTORIAL

Xbox One has a basic speech tutorial app that you can install to help with learning basic voice commands. It's not very long, but new users may find it helpful to start them off. It can be found in the store on the Xbox One

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