Microsoft this week revealed a new proof-of-concept project that attempts to use the living room space around your television as part of your video game experiences.
IllumiRoom utilizes the Kinect for Windows camera, coupled with a projector, to change the appearance of the room around your TV, potentially extending your field of view in the game and inducing an added feeling of motion.
Kinect captures the geometry of your room and then proceeds to project visuals in real-time onto your surroundings. Microsoft says that this augmentation can work to enhance the traditional living room video game and entertainment experience.
The company plans to reveal more about the project in April at the upcoming CHI Conference in Paris.
When I first saw that video, I thought it was fake. But now seeing gaming sites adopt it as truth I got to ask, whats the benfit to gaming in this projection method?
Some of the subtler implementations (snow flakes in a Mario Kart-like game) look great and can add some wonderful ambience to your game experience. Tech is a tool, the benefit is in the hands of those who exploit it creatively.
More chances for Microsoft to take a look around your living room, i guess.
It's going to be so weird to make a game for this. Your title is going to have to take into account the ratio of the size of the TV and the wall behind it to make sure that you display the correct amount of your game on the screen. That alone is whole tons of issues if you want the player to actually see some things in the world properly, since the projected part isn't going to be detailed. Also this thing will require games to render tons more content if the visual quality is to remain the same as it is now.
I didn't know if this was a response to my question or not. I don't know if the projection thing is very practical, I think more information is needed about this tech. I do know projectors need next to no light to be visually useful. It really is not adding much to the games from a play factor from what I can see. It sounds like it will make a good add on to existing tech though.
BTW I'm guessing the projector is a wireless streaming deal, given we don't actually see the device in the research vid.
I don't think the content being projected would be that huge. Stuff on the periphery doesn't need to be as detailed, it's more there to add ambiance than anything.
If I had to guess it would just use a low resolution but large size projector. Can't see it being useful for every game, but there are some genres it could do very well in (racing games?).
I'd be less worried about the feasibility and development than whether the juice is worth the squeeze to end users.
The snow was a nice gimmick, everything else in that video was an extreme distraction from the essential picture. However this could be an awesome toy for a whole different area. Like the Kinect it could be used for neat art installations and various other experimental things outside of games.
Personally, I think it looks cool, and its only proof of concept at this point. It's only eye candy for people to be like "OOHHHH, AHHHHHH, WEYUO!" for those of you that don't know that last one is from Kung Pao. I personally love the idea.
It's from their research division. It's just them exploring a cool concept to see if it has legs. Don't start ragging on it just yet, it's not a production system. This may be a stepping stone to much more powerful, important gaming components.
I think its a cool concept, I think it's just a matter of how hard and how much extra time ( aka money) it takes to incorporate it into a game. If its relatively simple and cheap to add in a game I can see it catching on, if it isn't, I don't see the bean counters allowing for it.
I can picture a psychedelic light and sound show while playing a game like rock band, or Rez.
Or a disco ball effect for all your epic karaoke and DDR parties.
Or a haunted house game where the corner of your eye can catch of screen spooks.
I can’t think of anything that where the device would be integral to the experience, but I could see it being an interesting supporting experience in the same way that controller vibration is, albeit at a somewhat greater (and possibly prohibitive) cost.
I would definitely use this in most of my games, it looks very nice and could certainly add immersion. I could see it becoming an on/off feature that allows players to choose whether to enable it or not.
It's another step from "mood lighting" towards "holo-deck". ;)
It's going to be so weird to make a game for this. Your title is going to have to take into account the ratio of the size of the TV and the wall behind it to make sure that you display the correct amount of your game on the screen. That alone is whole tons of issues if you want the player to actually see some things in the world properly, since the projected part isn't going to be detailed. Also this thing will require games to render tons more content if the visual quality is to remain the same as it is now.
BTW I'm guessing the projector is a wireless streaming deal, given we don't actually see the device in the research vid.
If I had to guess it would just use a low resolution but large size projector. Can't see it being useful for every game, but there are some genres it could do very well in (racing games?).
I'd be less worried about the feasibility and development than whether the juice is worth the squeeze to end users.
Or a disco ball effect for all your epic karaoke and DDR parties.
Or a haunted house game where the corner of your eye can catch of screen spooks.
I can’t think of anything that where the device would be integral to the experience, but I could see it being an interesting supporting experience in the same way that controller vibration is, albeit at a somewhat greater (and possibly prohibitive) cost.
Environmental Psychology, UC Irvine