Microsoft IllumiRoom is now RoomAlive, fills entire room with interactive visuals

[Shawn Knight]

Microsoft’s IllumiRoom project was one of the main attractions at the 2013 Consumer Electronics Show. Several months later, the Redmond-based company said the technology – which illuminates a wall with a flood of lights and images to create a more immersive gaming experience – was too expensive for a consumer launch.

Microsoft has remained mum on the subject for more than a year which led some to speculate that it had been scrapped. We now know that's not the case as IllumiRoom is back with added features and a brand new name.

IllumiRoom 2.0, or RoomAlive as it’s now being called, uses a series of off-the-shelf projectors and Kinects linked to a small computer to extend the visuals from a single wall to an entire room. The system is said to be completely auto-calibrating and self-locating so it can calculate the 3D geometry of a room within minutes.

Once ready to go, RoomAlive can track multiple players that can interact with the augmented reality world projected around them. As Engadget points out, players can bop enemies whack-a-mole style or physically dodge booby traps. A false move in the latter game will result in a bloody wound being projected onto your body.

RoomAlive is still a proof-of-concept as it remains too cost prohibitive at this point although the potential is certainly there. As technology advances, however, a smaller and cheaper version could have the same sort of potential as the Oculus Rift to shake up the gaming industry.

Permalink to story.

https://www.techspot.com/news/58312-microsoft-illumiroom-is-now-roomalive-fills-entire-room-with-interactive-visuals.html

 

[VitalyT]

Ok, so MS went back to the drawing board to make the product more interesting, but most importantly - competitive with VR sets. For many people having hallucinogenic walls will beat wearing a helmet, while also offering a sense of surrounding.

it can calculate the 3D geometry of a room within minutes

- isn't this kind of slow?

They are probably planning the announcement aligned with one for Oculus. I hope they don't take too long.

My only fear, in all honesty, if the first game to support this reality becomes Minecraft. A bullet in the head will feel better.

 

[Guest]

Looks like Microsoft is aiming to sell this product to its cat consumer.

 

[Guest]

This tech doesn't make much practical sense. I bought the connect based on the hype and expecting more than it turned out to be. The idea of motion controls just aren't practical when you think about it. How many videos have we seen where kids get elbowed from their parents when trying to have fun side-by-side playing connect. Adults tearing rotary cuffs or knee cartilage trying to do wild movements in their living rooms. It's a better idea in theory than in practice. Extending the idea to a whole room doesn't make it any better.

 

[gamoniac]

This tech doesn't make much practical sense. I bought the connect based on the hype and expecting more than it turned out to be. The idea of motion controls just aren't practical when you think about it. How many videos have we seen where kids get elbowed from their parents when trying to have fun side-by-side playing connect. Adults tearing rotary cuffs or knee cartilage trying to do wild movements in their living rooms. It's a better idea in theory than in practice. Extending the idea to a whole room doesn't make it any better.

The same can be said about Wii-mote but that turned out to be a great success for Nintendo in the mid 2000s (despite many broken Plasma/LCD TV...) I personally prefer the RoomAlive approach. The Oculus Rift set up could be expensive for multiple players (one headset per player). RoomAlive seems to solve the multiple player problem, esp if they can come up with cheaper camera set to reduce set up costs. Besides, as far as safety is concerned, Oculus users would have a higher chance of running into things when wearing head gear unless they are constricted to OR stations, which would add cost and require space. As the article mentioned, this is still in its early stage but so far it seems promising to me.

 

[Adhmuz]

What about your shadow? Doesn't it just kill the experience, it would for me. This just doesn't seem like a practical idea for anyone to setup in their own homes, it would make a great night out experience but the materials to set something up like this at home, forget about it. 6 projectors alone will be thousands of dollars, then you need a PC capable of connecting to all those projectors, again thousands of dollars. All for a system that has little to no support because, hey, how do you expect to design a game when the level is somebody's living room and not a definable space. Sadly I just don't see how this is suppose to compete with a VR Headset, which in itself is an idea I'm not terribly fond of. Besides, I always thought of gaming as a lazy thing to do.

 

[risc32]

What about your shadow? Doesn't it just kill the experience, it would for me.

boom! exactly.

and to the guy who posted earlier, sure we can't say just where the market will be in say 5 yrs, but we can say with certainty that we all won't have 4-5 projectors mounted on our ceiling, each with a kinect system. projectors aren't new, they aren't going to have a break though were they are suddenly cheap!besides you aren't getting around problem #1 of user shadows.

 

[gamoniac]

What about your shadow? Doesn't it just kill the experience, it would for me.

boom! exactly.

and to the guy who posted earlier, sure we can't say just where the market will be in say 5 yrs, but we can say with certainty that we all won't have 4-5 projectors mounted on our ceiling, each with a kinect system. projectors aren't new, they aren't going to have a break though were they are suddenly cheap!besides you aren't getting around problem #1 of user shadows.

@risc32,
I tried to emphasize the cost of multi players in my post. Since RoomAlive's set up cost is the same regardless of single or multi players. I assume that MS would only market this to the masses after they simplify the set up. And I totally agree with you that the costs of multiple kinects and projectors are prohibitive for RoomAlive right now. (Notice the rack/mount on the ceiling; that is some serious set up!)

As far as shadow effect goes, I would rather have shadow than wearing headsets... just a personal preference. But I am totally guessing since I don't have either right now

 

[Guest]

It just feels like Microsoft is trying to make tech for the people who have everything already. This doesn't seem like tech that would be for the everyman. They are developing exotic tech for homes that might have entire rooms dedicated to something like a holodeck. That's not a normal thing and I can't imagine this tech actually leading to any kind of popular form of gaming. Similar with the Occulus Rift. It's novelty tech at best.