All those rumours about the Xbox 720 more closely integrating Kinect seem more and more likely every day. Gesture and voice control is finding its way into more and more of our devices but what about immersion? What about the size of your TV?
We’ve heard about Sony’s potential plans to pack its 4k tech into the PlayStation 4, with 4k resolution panels already in the wild. That could potentially see huge displays that retain a great quality image but it would essentially still make the television screen a window, framing your gameplay experience. Microsoft has filed a patent which could see that become less of an issue.
The filing, uncovered by PatentlyApple, shows a “future Xbox” working with Kinect to determine where in a space the player is. It then makes use of a 360 degree projector to bathe your walls in the luminescent glow of in-game scenes. The dodgy images attached to the patent show a forest and hillside scene surrounding a man playing what we assume is intended to be an FPS.
With many people still prohibited from using Kinect to the fullest of its abilities due to room size and light issues, this tech might be some way off being useful. It’s a weird idea, for sure, but one which has some potential to fill our peripheral vision with colour in a way that makes that window into our game – where our focus will naturally be fixed anyway – all the more immersive.
There might even be less obvious uses. Imagine driving around San Andreas at night time as the rain pours down and that little projector casts the moon high above your TV. The projector could then be used to shine into your eyes as the headlights of oncoming traffic dazzle you. It could be used to cast arrows to the left or right of your screen, removing the on-screen directional HUD on many third person games.
Source: PatentlyApple
Porcupine_I
Is it strange that my mind refuses to recognize the word “wall” in assioziation with microsoft and reads “wallet” instead.
a inferior race
Yes, it is strange.
MrIrving
I’ve had a white walled room now for quite a while. I wonder if the padding will be a problem?
Tuffcub
Well down Microsoft, you invented the Poundsaver Holodeck.
RudeAwakening
Don’t think i’d like a projecter to shine bright lights in my eyes to mimic car headlights, i get enough of that while driving my real car!
The Lone Steven
So MS wants to implent the abitiliy to play games without having a tv by using Kinect to project the screen onto the wall. Big massive flaw i can see with that. Rooms tend to have furniture in them and Kinect tends to throw a hissy fit if something is in it’s way in a small room. Plus, most people would rather use a TV then this as it’s easier and doesn’t require you to take your room apart just so that you don’t have to use the TV. Plus, i would imagine the quailty would be ruined by the user’s shadow or the amount of light in the room. Hell, i usually have to close my certains to avoid the sunlight glaring on my TV so i wouldn’t be able to use this.
Tarak
A great idea… in a perfect world.
TSBonyman
360 degree projector sounds expensive, might be something neat for video game arcades though.
indigo19
I’m not going to knock this idea too much, I mean don’t get me wrong it does seem a bit shit.
But the industy needs people to innovate. Every generation just getting more RAM and higher resolutions can only go so far.
I’m still pinning my hopes on smell-a-vision to be the next big thing.
Paulo Vinicius Radtke
Excuse me, but how someone is supposed to play with a projector, strong enough to light up the room, projecting light on the player’s face? The traditional C.A.V.E. setup for virtual reality has projectors from the outside the projecting walls (which are translucent), instead of inside, over the player’s face.