Microsoft released a new video today showing its Illumiroom technology in real time. The tech demos in the video used a fairly simple combination of a projector and a Kinect to create some pretty impressive room filling visuals. The hardware is stock, but the innovation is in the software running the show. “The LED is projecting for a frame and then turning it off and Kinect IR is reading those layovers,” said Microsoft’s Eric Rudder, speaking to The Verge. “Then the Kinect turns off for a frame and then the projector goes on and then Kinect will go back and forth.” Rudder described the technology as “incredibly sophisticated,” but that the experience is “Oh, my TV got bigger, and I can project on anything because the surface doesn’t need to be flat.”
News of the Illumiroom tech has been floating around since Microsoft first announced it at CES last January. While a holodeck it is not, it has potential to create incredibly immersive gaming experiences. It’s an exciting piece of tech, that’s for sure!
Microsoft released this preview video in advance of their big reveal of the latest Xbox console, scheduled for May 21st. So the question on everyone’s minds is “will this be part of the new Xbox?” While the preview video says, “IllumiRoom envisions a next-generation gaming console with a projector that sits on your coffee table and surrounds your television with projected light,” it seems like much more of a proof of concept than a ready for prime time peripheral. Like the Kinect which brought a whole new type of gaming to the 360 some 5 years into its lifespan, I think we’ll see this tech coming down the pipeline for Microsoft’s new box eventually. But we’ll have to wait a little longer before we can live out our own Dixon Hill dreams. Check out the video below, it’s really cool!
[Via: The Verge]
