Microsoft Holodeck Patent Reveals the Future of Games

[Spectral Jester]

Microsoft is working on technology that projects 3D game worlds onto the walls of a room.

 

It is presumed that the tech will be used in conjunction with Microsoft’s next wave of Kinect hardware, which is rumoured to come in the form of 3D glasses called Fortaleza. The glasses will be able to tell exactly what direction in which you're looking, as well as giving the impression of 3D objects within the room.

 

So basically, your entire room could be turned into an alien environment filled with characters, architecture, fauna and who knows what else, much of which is interactive. Microsoft are building a Holodeck.

 

The news comes via a patent filed by MS themselves, which is accompanied by an image showing just how the tech would work. It shows someone playing an FPS, with the image on a TV screen spilling out onto the walls of the room. It also shows a second TV-mounted device alongside a Kinect unit.

 

The patent reads, “Interactive media experiences, such as video games, are commonly delivered by a high quality, high resolution display. Such displays are typically the only source of visual content, so that the media experience is bounded by the bezel of the display.”

 

“Even when focused on the display, the user may perceive architectural and decorative features of the room the display is in via the user’s peripheral vision. Such features are typically out of context with respect to the displayed image, muting the entertainment potential of the media experience.”

 

“Further, because some entertainment experiences engage the user’s situational awareness (e.g., in experiences like the video game scenario described above), the ability to perceive motion and identify objects in the peripheral environment (i.e., in a region outside of the high resolution display) may intensify the entertainment experience.”

 

 

information courtesy of CVG

[skummgummigubbe]

i want that one

[Choot 'em]

Getting closer and closer to Virtual Reality, lol!

[Zaguroth]

._.! Looks like it could be a really big hit... Only problem with it is that it would probably cost a fortune >.<

[SternuS]

That would be a great step in videogames' development. But what if i don't have the walls correctly positioned around me? And if there's a window?

[iTz Vplus2]

So then i'll need to have my console in a completely white room with no furniture? If yes, meh. If no, best news ever.

[SykoWolf]

Well see this is where the cost debate comes in. Yes it would cost alot, but not so much that a mainstream market couldnt afford it.

So perhaps Microsoft will have to find a good price range for the middle class people

[SternuS]

So then i'll need to have my console in a completely white room with no furniture? If yes, meh. If no, best news ever.

 

Exactly what i said. It's ridiculous if you need to install white panels around your Xbox. Otherwise, i don't see how should it work with some furniture in it.

[Azeraph]

So what if you walk backwards and trip over the couche? or out the window? that would seriously make my day if some poor sap actually did it.

[Slenderman]

White walls around your room? Let's go get the Portal Gun!

[Cooliest]

Hrmmm... seems like something I would want but furthering Vplus2's question how do the images project onto the wall behind you because wouldn't your body just get in the way? Would you have to wear white and kill enemies on your stomach?

[The Director]

Not news to me. ;D http://www.343industries.org/forum/topic/5237-something-interesting/?do=findComment&comment=46669

[SatanicBagels]

Wow this looks to have the potential to be really cool. I would just hope that it doesn't end up being somewhat of a gimmick like most motion sensing and controlled devices so far. The Wii was never very competitive in the older gamer audience, and the move and Kinect were really just there to get in on the motion control action sparked by the Wii.

[iTz Vplus2]

 

 

Exactly what i said. It's ridiculous if you need to install white panels around your Xbox. Otherwise, i don't see how should it work with some furniture in it.

 

Yeah, that's because of the expierences we've had with other technologies like this one.

My assumption is that without a completely white, plain room, you'll be able to see the environments. But even that only in the slightest way. And you definitely won't be able to interact with anything.

 

I wonder how MS are going to try to get this working. Right now with the current standing in technology, i don't see it.

[Cooliest]

Yeah, that's because of the expierences we've had with other technologies like this one.

My assumption is that without a completely white, plain room, you'll be able to see the environments. But even that only in the slightest way. And you definitely won't be able to interact with anything.

 

I wonder how MS are going to try to get this working. Right now with the current standing in technology, i don't see it.

 

It's definitely something that everybody would want but just like Wii, Kinect, and what ever motion technology PS uses it still has a lot of fine tuning to do. So I personally wouldn't want technology like this to come out until they have fully figured out that it will work and work perfectly.

[upton889]

Wow, that would truly be a huge step in gaming and entertainment in general. I can picture an alien popping up right now and me punching a hole through the wall haha.