Kinect + Sand + Marines = WOW!

When military guys talk about "playing in the sandbox" they sometimes mean it literally...

Video game technology has aided researchers in creating realistic 3-D battlespace maps using a simple sand box.

Called the Augmented Reality Sand Table, the concept is under development by the Army Research Laboratory and on display at this year’s Modern Day Marine on Marine Corps Base Quantico. The set-up is simple: a small sand box is rigged with a Microsoft Kinect video game motion sensor and an off-the-shelf projector. Using existing software, the sensor can detect features in the sand and project a realistic topographical map that corresponds to the layout — one that can change at a moment’s notice when observers move the sand around in the box.

and the inevitable demo video...