Kinect v2 works perfectly in SDK 2.0 / Kinect Studio, but won't show up as a webcam in Chrome (getUserMedia) : can't get the UVC webcam driver installed on Windows 11

Beginners
1

Hi everyone, I’m stuck on the last mile of a project and hoping someone here has cracked this.

Goal: use a Kinect v2 (Kinect for Xbox One + official Kinect Adapter for Windows) as a plain webcam in the browser, so I can feed its RGB stream into MediaPipe for body tracking in a web experience. I don’t need depth in the browser — just the color stream via getUserMedia.

Setup:

  • Kinect for Xbox One + official Windows adapter, plugged into a native USB 3.0 port

  • Windows 11

  • Kinect for Windows SDK 2.0 installed and fully working

What works:

  • The sensor is detected and streams fine in Kinect Studio v2.0 (color, depth, IR all OK)

  • Device Manager shows “WDF KinectSensor Interface 0” under Kinect sensor devices, reported as working properly

  • The Configuration Verifier is happy

What doesn’t:

  • The Kinect never shows up under “Cameras” in Device Manager, so Chrome’s getUserMedia / enumerateDevices doesn’t list it (neither does the Windows Camera app)

  • I know Microsoft shipped a driver update around late 2018 (v2.2.1812.x) that exposes the Kinect v2 color camera as a standard UVC webcam — that’s the driver I’m trying to get

  • Windows Update → optional updates → driver updates: nothing Kinect-related offered

  • Device Manager → Update driver → search automatically: “The best drivers for your device are already installed” (it’s sitting on the SDK’s 2.0.1409 driver and refuses to budge)

Questions:

  1. Has anyone successfully pulled the 2.2.1812+ “Xbox NUI Sensor” driver from the Microsoft Update Catalog recently? If so, which exact catalog entry did you use, and did pnputil /add-driver work to force it over the SDK driver?

  2. Is there a known conflict where having the full SDK 2.0 installed prevents the webcam driver from binding?

  3. Any Windows 11–specific gotchas with this driver?

I’m aware of the OBS + obs-kinect + Virtual Camera workaround and I’ll fall back to it if needed, but I’d prefer the native webcam route for the final installation (fewer moving parts).

Thanks a lot for any pointers :folded_hands:

2

Hey, I see you’re a new user, welcome to the forum.

But it’s not really clear to me why you’re posting this question in the TouchDesigner beginners forum, as nothing in your question seems TD related?