CuriousInventor | How the Kinect Depth Sensor Works in 2 Minutes @CuriousInventor | Uploaded February 2013 | Updated October 2024, 2 days ago.
The kinect uses a clever combination of cheap infrared projector and camera to sense depth.
References:
youtu.be/bRgEdqDiOuQ?t=10m16s
google.com/patents/US20090185274
campar.in.tum.de/twiki/pub/Chair/TeachingSs11Kinect/2011-DSensors_LabCourse_Kinect.pdf (p. 33)
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Range_imaging (Stereo triangulation)