Many stood up and took notice of the "Illumiroom" concept when Microsoft showed it off at CES last year. Now Microsoft's research division is back with something even more captivating: "RoomAlive," which turns a living room into an interactive augmented reality space, the Verge is reporting.
"Illumiroom" was certainly eye-catching, but all it did was extend the field of view for a traditional video game beyond a television screen, projecting a larger image surrounding it onto the walls and floor. "RoomAlive," though also in the research stages only, is even more complex, and brings the user off the couch to interact with the environment it renders on the furniture and other surfaces.
This video below gives a better idea of how that works than words alone. There are game concepts specific to "RoomAlive" that are shown, including a whack-a-mole type of game (where a gun peripheral is recognized) and an interactive danger room, similar to what is seen the "X-men" films and comics, where traps pop out off the walls.
There's no way this monitor-and-projection camera rig is either inexpensive or standardized enough to be commercially viable right now, so take all of this as a proof-of-concept only. Still, it isn't just a battery of projectors creating a super-large viewing surface. Six Kinect sensors follow the player's head around the play space, and "RoomAlive's" software recognizes the different surfaces in the room's layout and adapts the video game to them.
Stay tuned for more on this cool technology as it develops and ultimately becomes something more commercial.
