Xbox 720 may project game graphics into real world: Microsoft files patent for the Holodeck
"Immersive display system" could support 3D, true "off-screen" gameplay
Microsoft has filed a patent for an "immersive display system" which would project game graphics right into your living room, possibly in 3D, and allow you to interact with them using an enhanced version of Kinect. It's the Holodeck, in short. The patent, filed 2nd March 2011 and published 6th September, notes that "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."
The proposed "immersive display system" comprises (deep breath) "a peripheral input configured to receive depth input from a depth camera; a primary display output configured to output a primary image to a primary display device; an environmental display output configured to output a peripheral image to an environmental display; a logic subsystem operatively connectable to the depth camera via the peripheral input, to the primary display via the primary display output, and to the environmental display via the environmental display output; and a data-holding subsystem" which allows the beast to track a user's position, output the aforesaid peripheral image such that it appears to be an extension of the image on-screen.
Elsewhere in the patent, the inventor elaborates that "the peripheral image may include images of scenery and objects that exhibit the same style and context as scenery and objects depicted in the primary image, so that, within an acceptable tolerance, a user focusing on the primary image perceives the primary image and the peripheral image as forming a whole and complete scene. "In some instances, the same virtual object may be partially displayed as part of the primary image and partially displayed as part of the peripheral image."The environment display could take the form of "a wide-angle RGB projection display device configured to project a peripheral image in a 360-degree field around the environmental display." Ergo, you'll be able to look at or even interact with things behind the telly.
It might also project in 3D, both the more usual kind where users don active shutter glasses, or the fancy 3DS kind where parallax barriers or lenticular lenses create an autostereoscopic "glassless 3D" effect.
The environment display and depth sensors could be built right into the Kinect unit, which may use eye-tracking to gauge the user's position.
Leaked Xbox 720 design materials from 2010 make mention of just such a combination of 3D, Kinect and environment projection. There's tonnes more through the link. Have a read and let us know what you think.
Re: Patent filed by Microsoft (possibly for xbox 720)
A whole 3D world in your living room: Microsoft files patent to bring Star Trek's 'Holodeck' to future Xbox consoles
Microsoft's 'Kinect' sensor, coupled with range of projectors, could convert living room into virtual world
Technology would likely revolutionise conference calls and business use
Microsoft's team of researchers is looking to transform your living room into a futuristic Star Trek-style 'Holodeck'.
In these images, revealed by a patent application published last month, Microsoft unveiled its vision for its future game consoles - but instead of watching the action through a typical computer monitor or TV, your walls come alive with the action.
The technology will use Microsoft's Kinect sensor - which currently lets you control games by waving your hands at the television - to map out your room and your location within it, before a range of video projectors overlay a full and immersive 3D world over your surroundings.
So, instead of turning your TV on to play computer games, your whole living room - plant pots and all - could be transformed into a full 3D world from which you can hunt aliens on a distant planet or take part in epic Westerns.
The holodeck in your lounge: Using Microsoft's Kinect sensor and projectors, the company could make gaming - and a raft of other tools - very immersive
No more game pads: Your room could be turned into a full virtual environment
Patently Apple, which reports on innovations by Apple and its competitors, spotted the patent application this week.
The Kinect will also be able to recognise the furniture in your room, either incorporating chairs and tables directly into the game, or masking them by adapting the video output to render the items invisible.
It conjures up an image where a gamer could literally turn around in their living room to see an enemy sneaking up behind them.
The Kinect has been one of Microsoft's runaway successes of the last few years, beginning life as an accessory for the company's Xbox games console.
Instead of being tied to a controller, players could use their body to control the action in a myriad ways - for instance virtually pulling back a bow and arrow, or dancing as the console rated how good (or bad) you are at copying on-screen celebrities.
The technology would use a range of projectors to create an environment around the player, and the Kinect would sense your movements
It works by using infra-red and a depth camera technology to work out where you are standing, and your body position, and translating these to your in-game character.
It is unknown how far along this technology is. The patent was first filed early last year, and was published by the Patent and Trademark Office in the last month.
Writer Jack Purcher on Patently Apple said: 'I could remember it being so dramatic when gaming shifted from the CRT to HDTV with 1080p.
'Games came to life like never before. So the very thought that gaming will one day be able to immerse us into detailed gaming environments by projecting the imagery of the game onto the walls of our room is simply wild.
'Just having it projected unto the wall behind our HDTV's would be a great start - but having it truly immerse us with the gaming enviroment taking over all four walls around us could be a real breakthrough in the gaming experience.'
Patent filed by Microsoft (possibly for xbox 720)
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Re: Patent filed by Microsoft (possibly for xbox 720)
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