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Tag: IllumiRoom

  • Microsoft’s IllumiRoom Tech Won’t Be Coming To The Xbox One Anytime Soon

    Remember IllumiRoom? It was a concept Microsoft showed off earlier this year that would project the environment from a game beyond the TV display and onto the walls around it. It was incredibly cool and there was even talk of it showing up on the Xbox One. Well, don’t get excited yet as the technology probably won’t be available to consumers for quite some time – if ever.

    In an interview with Albert Penello, head of Product Planning for Xbox, AusGamers asked him if consumers would ever see IllumiRoom. His response was not encouraging:

    “I wouldn’t expect you’ll see that. It’s very, very cool tech but it’s, like, for a consumer, it requires projectors and things. It’s really super-neat if you’re in the lab and you’ve got Microsoft money and you could totally set up this awesome lab, but… we looked at it, but for an average customer it’s, like, thousands of dollars [for the set up].”

    Penello’s response isn’t entirely unexpected as projectors still do cost quite a bit of money. The technology that powers IllumiRoom requires multiple projectors so the cost would be a prohibitive factor in broad market adoption.

    Even so, it would be awesome if Microsoft continued to play around with IllumiRoom. They could maybe release a scaled down version that wouldn’t cost as much. Sure, it’s a silly gimmick, but it was honestly the coolest thing Microsoft showed off this year.

    If you need a reminder on how cool IllumiRoom is, check out the proof of concept demo that started all the excitement in the first place:

    [Image: MicrosoftResearch]

  • There Won’t Be A Subsidized Version Of The Next Xbox [Rumor]

    One of the better deals in gaming today is a $99 Xbox 360 that’s subsidized with two years of Xbox Live. Rumors suggested that Microsoft would be doing the same with the next Xbox, but those plans may have been scrapped.

    Paul Thurrot reports that Microsoft has ditched its plans for a subsidized Xbox. The news comes from a recent tweet that also said Microsoft would be showing off its IllumiRoom technology at tomorrow’s next Xbox reveal:

    For those unfamiliar with the rumor, it was said that Microsoft would be selling the next Xbox for $499 with a subsidized version going for $299. The latter would be subsidized with a two-year Xbox Live subscription at $15 a month.

    Now, this might be a good or bad move on the part of Microsoft. As Thurrot later speculates, Microsoft might just offer the next Xbox at a straight up lower price than the competition. Game consoles are generally sold at a loss anyway, but it’s hard to imagine Microsoft taking a massive hit early on just to undercut Sony.

    The more likely scenario is that Microsoft will just go ahead with its plans to sell the next Xbox for $499. That would mean the company is confident that its machine will have enough exclusive content to warrant a purchase. That was at least the line being fed to gamers over the weekend during the Major Nelson podcast in which Microsoft’s Aaron Greenberg said that E3 would feature “tons of exclusives and world premiers” for the new console.

    Still, many, including myself, think it’s unwise for Microsoft to ditch its subsidization plan entirely. The rise of smartphones have warped consumers’ perception of value and how much technology actually costs. The $350 price tag on the Wii U is evidence enough that consumers just aren’t up for paying that much for what many still consider a toy anymore. A subsidized model, even if it wasn’t “cheap” per se, would still perform better as people would think they were getting a deal.

    All of this is nothing but rumor and speculation for now, but Thurrot does have a solid track record when it comes to Microsoft rumors. He reported the May 21 date for the next Xbox reveal two weeks before the official announcement from Microsoft. Even if Microsoft was ditching its plans for a subsidized Xbox, we probably won’t hear about it tomorrow. According to Greenberg, tomorrow’s next Xbox reveal will be about “the team, the people” behind the next Xbox.

    Of course, we’ll be covering the next Xbox reveal tomorrow. It starts at 10 a.m. PST/1 p.m. EST.

    [h/t: Neowin]

  • IllumiRoom Has The Potential To Be The Next Big Thing In Gaming

    One of the coolest inventions shown at CES was IllumiRoom, a projector technology from Microsoft that would expand the gaming experience beyond the TV. In other words, it would display visuals from the game on the wall around the TV to create an immersive experience.

    The original demo released during CES only showed IllumiRoom in action. The new demo goes into the hardware powering IllumiRoom, and explains how the engineers at Microsoft are hoping to revolutionize home entertainment.

    At this point in time, IllumiRoom is still very much a prototype. That being said, Microsoft would be stupid to not integrate it into the next Xbox. It has the potential to be the next big innovation in games, especially if games can go beyond expanding the field of view. Some of the examples, like warping reality and realistic snowflakes, could go a long way in increasing immersion in games.

    There’s a lot of anxiety in the gaming community today regarding the next Xbox. Many aren’t too keen on having to keep up a constant Internet connection just to play games while others are concerned that Microsoft’s console will block used games. Despite that, IllumiRoom may be one of the few things gamers can overwhelmingly get behind, especially if Microsoft can knock it out of the park with the final hardware.

  • Microsoft’s IllumiRoom Takes Gaming Beyond the Edge of the TV Screen

    Microsoft’s IllumiRoom Takes Gaming Beyond the Edge of the TV Screen

    Microsoft Research, Microsoft’s department for experimental computer science projects, has unveiled the “IllumiRoom,” a projector system that extends the action in video games beyond the edge of the TV screen. What’s most impressive about it is that it doesn’t require a flat white background to work properly. Microsoft is currently demoing the project at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show (CES). From the Microsoft Research website:

    IllumiRoom is a proof-of-concept Microsoft Research project designed to push the boundary of living room immersive entertainment by blending our virtual and physical worlds with projected visualizations. The effects in the video are rendered in real time and are captured live — not special effects added in post processing.

    The system uses a Kinect for Windows camera and a projector to create the effects seen in the video below. It scans the geometry of a room using the Kinect, then uses its measurements to adapt its projected visuals “in real-time without any need to custom pre-process the graphics.” Microsoft claims the feature can extend the field of view beyond the TV, change the appearance of a room, or induce apparent motion.

    It sounds silly, yes, but give the video a look. This is the sort of impressive technology that gamers should hope is part of the next generation of console hardware. Also, it may very well be a precursor to the holodeck-style gaming experiences of the future.