When I finally got my hands on a Kinect a few days ago, I already knew that getting it to work with Flash on OSX wouldn’t be the easiest of tasks… but it was worst than I expected.
I got scared on the first half of any page giving instructions: how to install OpenNI, NITE, drivers, OSCeleton, messing with terminal, developer tools, Java servers for hours or even days…

Since I tend to think “plug A to B, plug B to C, plug C to D, it’s working, I did it!”, I started testing different ways to get the skeleton values from the Kinect into Flash EASILY, by combining different softwares as bridges… and it worked. Free and friendly softwares that bring the message from Kinect to Flash.

As the title says: nothing to install. Just download and run.

Ok, following certain steps. But don’t be scared, this post is long just because I use too many words.
By the way, for those interested in the long, detailed version, click here.
And remember: it’s only been tested on Snow Leopard but should work in Lion as well.

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1. You need to download:
*Synapse: http://synapsekinect.tumblr.com
*OSCulator http://www.osculator.net/download
*An OSCulator file that keeps the communication flowing + the .fla source tracking both hands: http://www.zeladores.net/2202.zip
*The NETLab toolkit: http://www.netlabtoolkit.org/

2. Copy the contents of the “NETLabFlashWidgets_3_2_1” folder to
** Flash CS3 folder /Configuration/Components
** Flash CS4 or CS5 /Common/Configuration/Components
2b. Do a GET INFO (command-I) on the NETLabHub.app + in the info window check the “Open in 32 bit mode”!! (sorry, I forgot to mention it on the video)

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Hand tracking in Flash is now a 1′ operation:
– Plug your Kinect and be sure you downloaded all files and followed the steps for the NETLab toolkit (copy widgets, check The Hub to run “32-bit”)
– Open the file “trackhands.oscd” in OSCulator.
– Run Synapse.
– Run The Hub.
– Open the trackhands.swf (you published, remember?)
– Do the cactus position and hold it for a few seconds until Synapse detects your skeleton: the trackers in the swf should start following your hands.
Done.

I hope you enjoy being able to play with your Kinect almost inmediately. If you’re able to do it on other OS versions, please let me know so I can update the post.
And please, don’t forget to leave your comments and as many ideas as possible.