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Lightform computer brings glasses-free augmented reality 'anywhere'
We've seen some really neat results when it comes to projection mapping -- especially from this year's SXSW -- but new tech from former Microsoft and Disney employees could change the game. Lightform takes tech like IllumiRoom and what Disney Research and Razer have worked on prior and amps it up. At its core, Lightform is a camera that hooks up to "any video projector" via HDMI and works in tandem with it to display complex, interactive scenes on every day objects. Yep, even houseplants.
You can build Microsoft's Kinect-powered holodeck at home
Got a Kinect, a projector and a knack for code? If so, you can create a Star Trek-like holodeck in your living room. Microsoft has released the RoomAlive Toolkit, a software framework that lets you string together Kinect motion trackers to create interactive projection maps. You can use it to build anything from extra-immersive games through to art displays. This isn't exactly a trivial undertaking (Microsoft is promising lots of tutorials), but it means that you won't have to wait for someone else to bring your augmented reality dreams to life.
Microsoft's RoomAlive turns your living room into a holodeck
Microsoft's IllumiRoom project has expanded beyond a single-Kinect set-up and is now called "RoomAlive." RoomAlive turns an enclosed area into an interactive gaming space, with enemies and puzzles projected on walls, floors and objects for residents to take out with their hands, feet or peripherals. The new and improved RoomAlive uses multiple projectors and depth cameras to scan a room and all of its contents, and then it superimposes interactive environments on top of everything. "IllumiRoom was largely focused on display, extending traditional gaming experiences out of the TV," the Microsoft Research team writes. "RoomAlive instead focuses on interaction, and the new kinds of games that we can create with interactive projection mapping. RoomAlive looks farther into the future of projection mapping and asks, 'What new experiences will we have in the next few years?'"
Microsoft's RoomAlive turns your den into a video game level
Remember IllumiRoom? It's the Microsoft Research project that pairs an Xbox Kinect with a projector to extend your TV onto a wall, resulting in an immersive (and hallucinogenic) experience. Redmond has just revealed that IllumiRoom 2.0 is now called RoomAlive and is a huge leap over what it was last year. The new system projects content throughout a room that you can interact with (or shoot), as shown in the insane video below. Instead of a single Kinect and projector, it uses multiple "procams" consisting of off-the-shelf projectors, Kinects and a control device. Microsoft claims that it's completely auto-calibrating and self-locating, enabling it to calculate the entire 3D geometry of your room in minutes.
Xbox One controller cost over $100 million to develop, smell-o-vision and built-in projector were considered
While Sony was content to toy with radical designs for the PlayStation 4's controller, it turns out Microsoft took a more conservative approach when building the Xbox One's gamepad. GamesBeat scored a look at the controller creation process and discovered that Redmond was reluctant to tweak the Xbox 360 controller at all since it considers the hardware "best-in-class." After some pressure from Zulfi Alam, Xbox's general manager for accessories, Ballmer and Co. decided to explore what changes could be made, and invested over $100 million throughout the course of the effort. Despite the firm's aversion to rocking the proverbial boat, it still wound up with more than a few unconventional prototypes -- some of which packed built-in displays and cameras. One of the strangest versions included a cartridge for emitting smells, and another featured a built-in projector that could throw out visuals reminiscent of illumiroom. Ultimately, the wackier iterations gave way to the traditional kit that's heading to stores, as the adventurous features drained battery life too quickly or the company's "core base didn't appreciate them," according to Alam. While we wouldn't have expected the Xbox One to usher in the age of smell-o-vision, we can't help but wonder what that future would have looked smelled like.
Illumiroom not expected to hit retail, would cost 'thousands'
Illumiroom isn't on its way to stores, bundled with Xbox One or otherwise, for fear the price tag would topple the shelves, Microsoft planning lead for Xbox One Albert Penello said at Gamescom, reported by Aus Gamers. Illumiroom, an initiative from Microsoft Research, looks like a nifty piece of technology – it connects to a console, ideally an Xbox One, and projects over a player's room, surrounding the TV and expanding game effects on top of real-world objects. "I wouldn't expect you'll see that," Penello said. "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." When it was first revealed in January, Illumiroom was labeled "proof-of-concept." In April, Microsoft Research said Illumiroom was still in the prototype stage.
Microsoft patent application details Illumiroom-like projection system
Normally, patent applications have us guesstimating at future implementations, but not so with this particular Microsoft filing. The USPTO doc, which surfaced just today and dates back to February 2012, has a very direct purpose: it uses two cameras to capture an environment, process the images and then spit 'em back out as a "integrated interactive space," or projection. Sound familiar? We thought so. It's called Illumiroom and it works with Kinect. Outside of a few gaming-centric demos earlier this year, Microsoft hasn't really detailed too much about the in-development tech, nor its destiny outside those research labs. But if this patent app is related, it bodes well for fans of full-body gesture control and immersive AR environments. Because as we all know, a life less real is a life worth living. Right?
The Daily Roundup for 04.30.2013
You might say the day is never really done in consumer technology news. Your workday, however, hopefully draws to a close at some point. This is the Daily Roundup on Engadget, a quick peek back at the top headlines for the past 24 hours -- all handpicked by the editors here at the site. Click on through the break, and enjoy.
Microsoft IllumiRoom unlikely to get public demo until July
Microsoft's view-expanding IllumiRoom technology looks doubtful to appear at the next-gen Xbox reveal in May. Speaking to our tech pals at Engadget, Microsoft Research's Hrvoje Benko and Brett Jones said a public demo isn't likely until July's SIGGRAPH conference.In addition, Microsoft Research says "IllumiRoom remains in the prototype stage, with much additional research left to be done before it could be made available broadly, but the progress thus far has been gratifying, and the possibilities are intriguing."Following the info published yesterday, which earmarked the Kinect-incorporating coffee-table projector for next-gen hardware, Microsoft Research talked further about IllumiRoom at the CHI 2013 conference in Paris. In the presentation, Microsoft Research said it's only "scratched the surface of what is possible with IllumiRoom" so far.The team wants to introduce more illusory effects around what it's calling "augmented gaming," and implement it around more genres; demonstrations to date tended to focus on first-person shooters and racing games.
Microsoft says Illumiroom isn't yet ready for next Xbox, but will get public demo in July (video)
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.
Microsoft IllumiRoom projects its vision for next-gen Xbox
IllumiRoom, Microsoft's game-expanding projector technology, is envisioned ideally for the next-generation Xbox, which is set to be revealed next month. Microsoft's Redmond-based Research group says its vision is for an "ultra-wide field of view device sitting on the user's coffee table, projecting over a large area surrounding the television. The device would be connected wirelessly to a next generation gaming console as a secondary display."Microsoft is showcasing the proof-of-concept technology, first unveiled at CES earlier this year, at this week's CHI 2013 conference in Paris. In a paper published for the conference, Microsoft Research detailed how Illumiroom could be "developed into a next generation game console with game content designed from the ground up, or it could be an 'addon' for existing consoles with gamers writing scripts to mod their favorite games."The paper adds, "Ideally, IllumiRoom would be directly integrated into a next generation console and new games would be designed for IllumiRoom from the ground up."A new five-minute video expands upon the brief preview published earlier this year. It shows how IllumiRoom, which incorporates Kinect, projects images to alter the appearance of the room surrounding the TV, including a number of lighting and particle effects, as well as extended field of view. We should hear more about Illumiroom later this week at CHI 2013, and possibly at Microsoft's May 21 event, when the next Xbox is expected to debut.
Microsoft's Illumiroom demo frees gaming from its TV cage
Usually when a television screen bleeds, it's not cause for celebration, nor does it signify the cutting edge of new technology. Microsoft's Illumiroom challenges that thought, using Kinect and a projector to transpose relevant video and images around the TV, on walls and furniture, while playing games.Illumiroom can add flickering lights, particles and ambiance to certain games, or expand the environment in others, though it's still a prototype for now. Microsoft showed off Illumiroom in a video at the Samsung CES keynote, and it looked something like the above film."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 Illumiroom YouTube description reads. "The effects in the video are rendered in real time and are captured live – not special effects added in post processing."
Microsoft and Samsung demo Illumiroom display, fill room with images (video)
Microsoft just demonstrated an interesting display technology called Illumiroom at the Samsung CES keynote that apparently fills up the room with images and lights beyond the confines of a television screen. We were shown a video of someone playing Xbox games and making it seem like it's snowing in the room, for example. It's unclear how the technology is being implemented, but we were promised it wasn't just video tricks and was indeed a video of a lab demo. We'll try to suss out the details for more. Update: It's actually a Microsoft Research project that uses a Kinect for a Windows camera combined with a projector. It apparently "uses the appearance and the geometry of the room (captured by Kinect) to adapt the projected visuals in real-time without any need to custom pre-process the graphics." Sure it's still in the prototype stage, but color us intrigued. We'll be sure to follow up with the Redmond giant to see if we can get a bit more up close and personal with this. Stay tuned.
