Microsoft - Illumniroom: Next Gen Immersion

Nemecys · Apr 2013

Microsoft's Illumniroom, currently a concept piece working with the Kinect to map the living space and then project more ingame content on the screen including but not limited to:

- Particles
- Pickups
- Highlighted Edges
- In-Game Lighting
- Extended FoV
- Real World modification

Or a combination of all the above and more, truly a next gen step into immersion

Article: http://www.theverge.com/2013/4/29/4281228/microsoft-illumiroom-table-projector-for-next-xbox

Video: http://www.theverge.com/2013/4/29/4281228/microsoft-illumiroom-table-projector-for-next-xbox#ooid=R1eWs5YjoAhKfNCtG8wTRa3i3edoazoT

Dataday · Apr 2013

Honestly, i think something like this is going to flop on its face. Hardly next gen and it could do just as much to harm immersion and help enforce it.

ambershee · Apr 2013

Nothing like rendering a game viewport a second time with massively increased FOV, just to throw it all into peripheral vision, crudely projected onto a room.

Nemecys · Apr 2013

Very good point, Its quite gimicky and that probably means expensive too, but i enjoy the fact that it sort of feels like a step in the right direction, im sick of living in a rectangle,

What sort of price would you guys pay for this?

wasker · Apr 2013

I think some effects like grenade blasts or muzzle flares for example could look quite cool on this.

MikeF · Apr 2013

blegh, this is not what i'd call immersion. More like a bunch of distracting crap on my stuff

notman · Apr 2013

I like the concept (as I did when this was posted months ago, as just development stuff). The problem I have is, I don't have a coffee table, and don't plan to lay this on my livingroom floor every time I plan to play. Nor will I mount it to my ceiling (if that's even an option).

It would be a cool addition, especially if optimized by developers, but I don't see paying extra money to have this, especially when I suspect it will be clearly over $100 to add on (if it's an accessory).

ATM, the next xbox is not on my purchasing radar, and I don't think this is close to offsetting the negatives I personally have for the way MS handles the business end of the xbox system.

SuperFranky · Apr 2013

I don't see a point in it, and as far as I know not many gamers have coffee tables to place this thing on.

Habboi · Apr 2013

Heh well my TV is against a very large window so most of the projection would just end up outside :P

Richard Kain · Apr 2013

I do appreciate that someone is experimenting with something like this. It's nice to see an attempt being made at shaking things up a little bit.

At the same time, I'm not confident in the viability of this as a product in the current market, and I will be doubly concerned if Microsoft attempts to build the NextBox around this. A peripheral like this one is extremely dependent on the conditions of a consumer's living room, even more so than the Kinect is. For with anyone with wood paneling on their walls, this isn't going to work nearly as well. Anyone with too many shelves in their game room, or a few too many cabinets or posters on the walls will also be out of luck. Treating the surrounding room as a canvas works best when the walls are bare. Even a minimalist like myself usually keeps some form of decoration on my walls.

The only way to insure development support for a device like this is to bundle it with the NextBox by default. And if that happens, it is going to drive up the price of the system, and reduce the amount of system resources developers will be able to devote to their games. (since they will have to hold some rendering back for the room)

Kevin Albers · Apr 2013

I'm interested in doing generative art/sound collages for the next Xbox (assuming they launch an open App Store). This would be pretty cool for that kind of stuff, so I'm interested in it. It doesn't seem like this device is going to have mass market appeal, though...

Andreas · Apr 2013

I would only be interested in vague lighting effects, grenade blasts, AA fire in the distance on a starry night, etc. Not rendering a much bigger FOV. I have the blank wall for it, it just doesn't interest me.

I would also like to see UI stuff disappearing from the actual screen.

adam · Apr 2013

ambershee wrote: »

Nothing like rendering a game viewport a second time with massively increased FOV, just to throw it all into peripheral vision, crudely projected onto a room.

This.

HitmonInfinity · Apr 2013

Seems like a glorified rumble pack to me...

pestibug · Apr 2013

I wonder what MS is thinking when they research this stuff? I mean, first we had to move our coffeetable to make room to play with kinect. Now we have to put it back for a projector.

Also I wonder how pets will react to this. I know my cats will go fucking crazy with the snow effect, no thnx

Instead of kinect and... this sort of shit, I wish MS would just focus on a box that plays games 1st of all. Not all this TV and useless crap that eats resources.

ambershee · Apr 2013

BUT NOW I CAN ORDER PIZZA WITH KINECT

easterislandnick · Apr 2013

HitmonInfinity wrote: »

Seems like a glorified rumble pack to me...

Playing games without rumble is odd now though! I like this idea, not sure it can be implemented in a home set up easily but the tech is interesting. I'm sure that in a installation setting that creative devs could do cool stuff with it. I'm getting more of an interesting in an art piece vibe off it than I would have it in my living room though.

Dataday · Apr 2013

easterislandnick wrote: »

Playing games without rumble is odd now though! .

Wait till you try real haptic feedback for games. I would recommend the novint falcon but it seems they are no longer supporting their own product. When it did have support, the feedback was an amazing experience.

Joao Sapiro · Apr 2013

damn , maybe i am too old fashioned, but whats wrong with playing a simple game with a controler on the couch...my living room wouldnt have space for that as well and i have a decent one considering the standard in lisbon.

But honestly im really happy they are researching new ways to immerse players instead of the next graphical best thing !

Marine · Apr 2013

It's a research project, MS do all kinds of crazy shit that never gets released. Last year they showed off gesture recognition based on the Doppler effect and a different method that used electromagnetic noise from appliances and power lines.

leilei · Apr 2013

My favorite part is their use of certain open sourced games (running in OpenGL!) to demonstrate it

Snacuum · Apr 2013

Guys. guys. guys.
How about, an Oculus Rift, that's wireless, with a HD camera on it, that superimposes the game over what the camera sees.

Horror games.

notman · Apr 2013

Well, that honestly could be the progression of google glasses. It's not HD, but you essentially want augmented reality games. As Google glasses evolves, I can see it becoming basically that. No need for Oculus Rift. Why generate a 3D environment, when it already exists? You would just generate decay on the existing buildings (if that's what you want)

slipsius · Apr 2013

Does it work with porn?

HitmonInfinity · Apr 2013

easterislandnick wrote: »

Playing games without rumble is odd now though!

I don't seem to notice it missing on my keyboard and mouse...

Snacuum · Apr 2013

HitmonInfinity wrote: »

I don't seem to notice it missing on my keyboard and mouse...

y'know I wouldn't mind it on my keyboard

Microsoft - Illumniroom: Next Gen Immersion

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