The Microsoft IllumiRoom concept was initially showed off at CES 2013 back in January. It uses a projector combined with Microsoft’s Kinect sensor to offer users a literally absorbing gameplay experience. IllumiRoom extends gameplay beyond the television as it scans the user’s surrounding through Kinect and creates a digital map of the room. Images and illusions are then projected on to walls or objects via the widescreen projector. For example, if the player was in a level in which it was snowing, IllumiRoom could make it look like it was snowing inside the room in which the game is being played.
It was rumored yesterday that Microsoft IllumiRoom might be available with the next generation Xbox, though that is not entirely true. Brett Jones and Hrvoje Benko, researchers at Microsoft, said that the product isn’t ready yet though it is working quite nicely in the lab. They say that the earliest this can be shown to people, that too as a concept, is July. They didn’t say anything with regards to the release time frame for IllumiRoom. Microsoft is due to make the next generation Xbox announcement at the 21st of May.
Earlier this year Microsoft introduced IllumiRoom, a prototype technology that augments TVs and other displays by projecting room-filling visuals that complement what is being shown on the screen. Microsoft Research recently released a video that explains the basics of IllumiRoom.
IllumiRoom can augment your gaming sessions in a number of ways. The most obvious and impressive way is to extend what’s being shown on your TV into the area around it. The resulting effect is halfway between a 3D headset and a cinema. But this is also the most difficult feature to implement because it will require “access to the game’s source code.” Other features of the IllumiRoom include adding spatial cues or matching mood lighting to enhance immersion.
Movies can also be extended using the IllumiRoom, but again the movie would have to be made with this function in mind. In other words, every scene has to be shot in a wide field of view in addition to the usual shots.
As mentioned in the video, the current proof-of-concept prototype uses a Kinect to analyze the color and geometry of the area around the TV and an off-the-shelf projector to display the complementary visuals. But as Microsoft’s researchers imply in their paper (pdf), the goal is to pack all the necessary hardware into one device. This IllumiRoom-capable device will then be “connected wirelessly to a next generation gaming console as a secondary display.” I wonder if we’ll hear more about it on May 21.
Microsoft is giving UK gamers another chance to take advantage of some free Xbox Live Gold this weekend. The company just recently offered the same deal to those in the US and other regions in the world, except for the UK and Europe. They had a free weekend last month, and are now getting the opportunity to go at it once again.
If you have an Xbox 360, but have never taken advantage of Xbox Live Gold, this would be a great time to check it out for yourself and see what all the fuss is about. You’ll save yourself $60/year for the membership, but if you decide after this weekend that you want to hop in full time, you can actually pick up Gold memberships for as low as $35 in some cases.
Xbox Live Gold allows you to play against your friends, as well as access different services like Netflix, Spotify, MLB.TV, and a handful of other apps in the dashboard. Granted, you’ll still have to pay for each service individually, but it’s a small price to pay if you want to use your gaming console as a home theater solution as well.
The free weekend promotion starts at noon UK time on Friday, May 3, and ends at midnight on that Sunday night/Monday morning. Typically, Microsoft has ended their free weekends well into the day on Monday, so having the free weekend end at Midnight on Sunday night seems a little odd. Nonetheless, that should give you plenty of time to clear your calendar and get to gaming.
Microsoft’s IllumiRoom technology, which turns your living room into an augmented reality gaming arena by expanding graphics from the confines of your TV, won’t be baked in time for the next-gen Xbox, the company has confirmed. The projection technology, which uses Kinect to digitally map a room and then digitally overlay dynamically changing graphics linked to the on-screen entertainment, will be shown off in concept form this year, Microsoft Research’s Hrvoje Benko and Brett Jones confirmed to Engadget, but is nowhere near ready for commercial release.
In fact, IllumiRoom won’t get shown to the public until Siggraph in July, missing out E3 2013 in the process. The tech is “working well” according to the researchers, but it’s still in the early stages of development.
Microsoft has been dripping details around IllumiRoom for some months now, after surprising attendees at Samsung’s CES press conference back in January with a demo of the augmented reality system. Currently pairing a Kinect for Windows with a basic projector and a PC, IllumiRoom first automatically maps the user’s living room and then creates a 3D wireframe which can be used to extend play off of the screen and into the surrounding area.
So, explosions on-screen can cause ripples that spread out around your TV cabinet and beyond, while fireballs can spread outside the limits of your screen. Alternatively, IllumiRoom can be used to heighten the mood of the game, creating virtual snow, for instance, that can not only fall within the room but accumulate on shelves and tables.
Microsoft Research’s attentions aren’t just on gaming, however, despite the obvious applications for Xbox. The IllumiRoom system could also be used to make TV and movies more immersive; in a newly released paper for the CHI 2013 conference this week, the team shows a DIY dual-field-of-view camcorder prototype which simultaneously captures the core video and its extended surroundings, the latter to be projected around the TV.
Nonetheless, while it won’t be ready any time soon, IllumiRoom’s primary purpose looks to be extending the immersive gameplay of the next-gen “Xbox 720″, an obvious way to build value into the console in the face of low-cost casual gaming on smartphones and tablets. Considering Kinect followed on after the Xbox 360 had already been in the market for some time, there’s nothing to say that IllumiRoom couldn’t arrive after Xbox 720 has bedded down into living rooms, providing a mid-life refresh of sorts.
Since we saw Illumiroom at CES in January, the research has come quite a ways. But while it’s still a spectacular technology display, don’t look for it to pop up in any Xbox announcements in the near future. In fact, Microsoft Research’s Hrvoje Benko and Brett Jones told us during a interview that while they have Illumiroom technology working well at this point, they’re not likely to even demo it to the public until July at Siggraph.
That’s not to say that you’re not going to want it. The researchers showed in detail exactly how it works: they use a Kinect to scan your living room, then project a series of “illusions” onto it with a wide-screen projector, getting the colors just right using a technique called “radiometric compensation.” The projector and Kinect can be mounted in any convenient spot in the room, like the ceiling or a table. While the technology can be used with other forms of entertainment, researchers concentrated on gaming, since they’re able to generate source material that works well with the effects. Some of those illusions include “focus,” which displays special effects around the images, “segmented focus,” to extend the display to portions of the living space (requiring extra material to be generated), and “appearance,” changing the look of your room by giving it a cartoon appearance, for instance. Despite the still-early phase of the research, it’s definitely whetting our appetite for more — and you can see an interview with the researchers, along with a full raw video of the presentation after the break.
This week Microsoft has presented a concept for a system they call IllumiRoom, one made to show how the television could be expanded upon with a series of projectors. This system has been pegged for possible integration for the Xbox 720 – also known as the Xbox Infinity – a system Microsoft will announce in one form or another on the 21st of May at Microsoft’s Xbox campus. With Microsoft’s IllumiRoom, gamers will be using a combination of the Xbox’s Kinect sensor and a projector to bring a room-wide peripheral view experience enhancement to the Xbox 720.
This system has not been confirmed as being prepared for the release of Microsoft’s next-generation console, nor has it been presented as anything but a proof-of-concept thus far. Because it’s expected that the next-generation Xbox will not be released in final physical form for at least another half-year, it does remain possible that IllumiRoom will be integrated when the time comes.
It’s important to note that the Xbox Kinect originally started as a project similar to this one, presented first as a proof-of-concept like you’re seeing here. As the system proved to be more than just a mere fascination for users and developers alike, Kinect became an integrated system for the Xbox 360 – still something you’d purchase separate from the system, but marketed as an essential element.
“Ideally, IllumiRoom would be directly integrated into a next generation console and new games would be designed for IllumiRoom from the ground up. We envision an API that enables triggering illusions, changing surface appearance, controlling room lighting, inserting objects into the physical environment, etc.” – Microsoft Research
At the moment, this system requires more than one projector and is made to enhance only games that are optimized for it. You’ll see situations that range from an object jumping out of the screen to bounce across the floor towards the user to virtual reality snow falling around the user as they drive a car through some wintery mountains. If the Xbox does adopt this system when its next-generation launches, it could be a separate element that takes on the title “Xbox Infinity” while the Xbox itself summons the iPad naming convention, existing as “Xbox” from here on out.
There has been a steady stream of Xbox related rumors even after Microsoft announced that it will be revealing its upcoming console on the 21st of May. Rumor has it that Microsoft will name the next generation console Xbox Infinity, this of course contradicts previous rumors which claim that the company will simply be calling it the Xbox. The Xbox 720 moniker has been thrown around a lot as well, but we’ll know for sure what its called when Microsoft officially announces it.
Several sources are cited in a new report which says that the next generation Xbox controllers will have a clickable touch sensitive area. This area will reportedly support gestures as well as function as a directional control pad, similar to what one can find on the lower left on the existing Xbox controllers. Microsoft has said that it will fully unveil its next console at the E3 conference, and that it doesn’t have any comment on the product right now. Recent rumors also indicate that the new Xbox won’t actually impose the always-on internet connection need, it will be up to publishers to decide whether or not they want their games to require such a connection. Microsoft hasn’t confirmed the restriction in any way.
Ever since Microsoft’s Kinect was released, we’ve seen a number of people hack the device to perform a number of tasks such as controlling your PC, turning your body into a music mixer and giving you power over your Roomba. But one hack we are surprised took this long to create is the BoobTracker.
YouTube user Mizirk uploaded a video last month that showed off his Kinect hack which makes it possible for the device to not only track your chest, but also cover your nipples. In order to use the program, you’ll raise your right hand in order to activate its floating objects which will track and cover your naughty chest region. Lifting your left hand will make the objects completely disappear, while lifting your right hand again will change the type of objects covering your chest that rang from cats, to pineapples, even to a face of Sterling Archer. (more…)
At this year’s CES, Microsoft decided to tease us a bit with its IllumiRoom concept which was shown to expand the visuals of your game beyond your HDTV. After 3 months since its initial unveiling, Microsoft has released a new video showing off the concept once again.
Microsoft’s Illumiroom could end up being a device that would sit on a coffee table in order to work together with the Kinect to project lights around their HDTV to extend the image that is displayed on the screen in real-time. The way Illumiroom would work with the Microsoft Kinect is by having the camera deliver information in regards to the person’s living room, which would help in its ability to project the expanded images. (more…)
Despite the fact that Microsoft has already announced its plans for revealing next generation Xbox on May 21st, the rumors keep on coming in. According to a latest report which address the controversial issue of the next Xbox supposedly needing an always-on internet connection for playing games, it is up to publishers to decide whether or not their games require such internet connection. Microsoft will reportedly not be imposing any restriction of this sort. Publishers and only publishers will decide.
Apart from this, the next generation Xbox is also expected to be able to record gameplay videos, these videos can then be shared on social networks. It is said to be a DVR like system which the users can enable or disable as per their liking. Not only will publishers reportedly decide whether their games need always-on internet connection, they will also be able to add achievements to their games even after they have been launched. These achievements wouldn’t need to be released as optional downloadable content. Microsoft makes the announcement on 21st of May and will make the full unveil at E3 conference in June.
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