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Amateur ghost hunters take notice. You can use the Kinect for Xbox 360 to detect spirits. Well, my girlfriend, her cousins, and I did once.
We were getting our groove on with Dance Central back when Microsoft's motion-controlled camera device was still fresh on the market.
During one particular session, we noticed something abnormal. Midway through a psychedelic freestyle interlude — where the player takes a creative break from mimicking the in-game dancers — we noticed an extra person on the screen … who was not in the room. The infrared camera inside the Kinect appeared to detect an energy source in the shape of a small child.
No one could explain why it was there. In the recorded playback — which ditches the infrared — we saw my girlfriend's cousin end his booty romp to investigate the seemingly empty space. We had no way to replay the spooky footage for further analysis. We had no proof, but we know what we saw.
Shaken, we tried to recount the incident to a cousin who had just arrived. Then, the television abruptly turned off just as we pointed at it.
To us, this paranormal activity is plausible due to the history of unexplainable happenings in the house. My girlfriend has many stories of a noisy, mischievous ghost kid. She's heard a high-pitched giggle from an empty room and the sound of bare feet running down the tiled-floor hallway. One time, her digital camera and memory card went missing for a few days. She later found them deep between her mattress and bed frame, near but separate from each other.
Her brother has a collection of similar tales from living there as well.
Skeptics can say what they want, but for us, all of the "logical" explanations we've desperately tried to think up sound way too far-fetched.
"Sometimes, I avoid Dance Central out of fear of seeing the 'Kinect ghost' … who we've since named George," she said to me.
Soon after the initial sighting, I attempted to get a quote from Microsoft about the Kinect's third eye, but the company had nothing to say. I don't blame it. This shit sounds crazy.
But I'll tell you what. If you're looking for a good time this Halloween, head down to an old church or cemetery with some friends, Dance Central, and a Ouija board. Then, summon up some spirits for a paranormal dance battle, and let me how it goes down.
*Note: The top image is a dramatic reenactment of the sighting.
