Xbox 720 Illumiroom Revealed

R3DNate

R3DNate

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I was going to make a commentary video myself on this but I don't want any trouble from Microsoft. Below are videos for my friend's commentary video on it and the original trailer.

Friend's Commentary Video:
http://www.youtube.com/embed/srKpdTsHRjs

Original Trailer Announcement:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=re1EatGRV0w

Here are links to the videos if you cannot put a full display up on this site:
Commentary Video: http://www.youtube.com/v/srKpdTsHRjs

Original Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=re1EatGRV0w
 
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There's a few too many http:// in your links.

I get this could be done with a Kinect's IR thing to create a "good enough" 3d mapping of your room and a projector. That way it could accommodate whatever furniture or wall arrangement you have. Where are you supposed to actually put this thing through?

Seems cool enough, but I doubt I'll ever see a game that uses it to the point where I couldn't imagine the game without it.
 
So how do I get videos to work right in here. I fixed the http:// but there wasn't double that in the video posts. Why does it come up white?
 
[quote name='R3DNate']So how do I get videos to work right in here. I fixed the http:// but there wasn't double that in the video posts. Why does it come up white?[/QUOTE]
You just post the url of the video

So its a built in projector?
 
Cool effect, though it looks incredibly distracting. Still I think this could do some cool stuff. Like for Rock Band 4. Umm....

Anyway, this is Xbox Research. I don't think there's any guarantee it would show up in the next Xbox. Who knows, maybe it would be a peripheral for the current Xbox even.
 
True there is no guarantee, but there have been other leaks in the recent past about the Kinect successor for the next Xbox being something that " projected a virtual environment" (or something like that) into the player's environment. I think it is pretty safe to assume that's what we're looking at.

Like I said, I'm not really interested, but as long as you can play stuff without requiring it, I don't really have any complaints (as long as it doesn't make the console cost 500 bucks, anyway).
 
How do you embed because there is no option. When I did what I do on another forum which is type [youtube] and [/youtube] it turns to white.
 
[quote name='crunchewy']Cool effect, though it looks incredibly distracting. Still I think this could do some cool stuff. Like for Rock Band 4. Umm....

Anyway, this is Xbox Research. I don't think there's any guarantee it would show up in the next Xbox. Who knows, maybe it would be a peripheral for the current Xbox even.[/QUOTE]

the demo is using standard parts. a kinect and a projector. you can sure as heck bet that it'll be with the next Xbox especially if the rumors that kinect 2.0 is included with every Xbox.

of course, the key thing is the projector. anyone that's shopped projectors know they're not cheap. and if you're locked into a microsoft projector (most likely) then it definitely won't be cheap.
 
Yeah. And if I had a projector, is rather just have a huge image to begin with instead of just glorified special effects.
 
[quote name='dirtyvu']the demo is using standard parts. a kinect and a projector. you can sure as heck bet that it'll be with the next Xbox especially if the rumors that kinect 2.0 is included with every Xbox.

of course, the key thing is the projector. anyone that's shopped projectors know they're not cheap. and if you're locked into a microsoft projector (most likely) then it definitely won't be cheap.[/QUOTE]
In the video you see a normal Kinect and Xbox 360 but I'm pretty sure this will be for the NextBox
 
[quote name='R3DNate']How do you embed because there is no option. When I did what I do on another forum which is type it turns to white.[/QUOTE]

Just click the Insert Link button above the text box and paste the youtube link. Is that not working for you?
 
[quote name='perdition(troy']Giant waste of time for any gaming I would ever do.[/QUOTE]

So a giant waste of time for a giant waste of time? ;)

I like the concept but projectors are not cheap. If they can pull this off for cheap somehow it would be sweet. I can see this eventually becoming an add-on.

The blurring the whole room for each gunshot is pretty awesome. I see this tech as being about as on par with vibration in controlers for importance to gaming. Something nobody though they needed until they had it.
 
Is this where console gaming is headed? More gimicks and fewer real games? I've had my fill of motion controls, touch screens, 3D, you name it. I just want a controller, a TV, and a game worth playing.
 
While this could be used to add greater ambiance and atmosphere to certain titles, I'm not sure how effective it would be for incorporating into games. This is especially true for the kind of games that have made the XBox popular. A technology like this probably wouldn't integrate very well into existing genres. It would have limited appeal for FPS titles, as those games focus on very fast action and response times.

I'm also a little concerned about how well a projector like this would work in a bright, sun-lit room. I don't always play games in the dark.

It will be interesting to see if Microsoft has the guts to make a technology like this part of the default NextBox package. That is the only way for them to insure some degree of developer support for such a device. Developer support for the Kinect dropped off very quickly as soon as it became obvious that the majority of 360 owners weren't going to jump on that particular bandwagon.
 
After watching this new video I really wouldn't mind having this depending on cost of the set up and if it is being used in a lot of games.
 
[quote name='Richard Kain']It will be interesting to see if Microsoft has the guts to make a technology like this part of the default NextBox package. That is the only way for them to insure some degree of developer support for such a device. Developer support for the Kinect dropped off very quickly as soon as it became obvious that the majority of 360 owners weren't going to jump on that particular bandwagon.[/QUOTE]

Part of the default package? Even the cheapest of projectors would raise the cost of the unit $100. If they're also throwing in a Kinect, the cost of the console is over $150 before we even get to the console itself.
 
[quote name='Broken Cage']Is this where console gaming is headed? More gimicks and fewer real games? I've had my fill of motion controls, touch screens, 3D, you name it. I just want a controller, a TV, and a game worth playing.[/QUOTE]

The touch screen on a handheld system is actually useful, a touch screen + a console + a TV, not so much. The DS had the first touch screen, well not the first on a handheld, but the first on a mainstream handheld system, since then almost every other handheld device has one, it works and is useful. The 2 screens are close enough on the DS where you can see them together, with a console like the Wii U you have to switch your view between the gamepad and the TV, which is way different.

I am not sure about motion control, almost every game makes poor use of it except for a select few. I think its just too hard to perfectly implement a body moving into a game with enough precision so you can actually play properly.

The kinect's biggest problem is it doesn't work in small spaces, which is basically every single house in my area. The Wii and PS move work fine in small spaces. Out of all my friends and relatives I am the only one with a Kinect, and I only have enough space for one person to play and I was lucky to even get it set up and working. My cousins are the biggest Xbox fanboys but they have no interest in kinect at all. I don't see this thing illumiroom thing as being necessary, it just looks stupid and probably wouldn't work in my room since my room is shaped like a pyramid.
 
I don't know how you could watch the pulsing at 2:16 and on and not be impressed.

i think the lighting effect at 2:10 has great possibilities. imagine you die and your entertainment center turns gray or shades of red. or the amazing pulse effect at 2:17. that was just so surreal.

and increasing the field of view beyond the TV would help immensely in games. if it gives you and advantage in COD over people who don't have it, I'm for it. want to see grenades that are out of the view of the TV? now you can.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJ4hWa6y710
 
Some neat effects, but still seems very gimmicky to me. And looks like it could be like Kinect where you need a pretty decent sized room to be able to really use it, so could be problematic for condo/apartment dwellers who can't sit that far away from the TV.
 
if you use the kinect for things like voice recognition or illumiroom, you don't need a lot of space. it's only when you need to do fully body gaming.

334utec.jpg


but part of that is due to the limited field of view for the current kinect. the cone that you have to be in for the Kinect to see your whole body. kinect 2.0 is going to have a wider field of view (which is part of the reason why it's rumored kinect 2.0 no longer needs to tilt to try to find the best view). because of the wider FOV, you'll also be able to play closer to the TV though from what I've read, it's not dramatically closer.

and you wouldn't need a lot of room to make the illumiroom work.

if you read the research paper, what you do is during calibration, the kinect faces the front wall so that it can be scanned and modeled. the kinect can then be moved back to its default position above/below the TV.

the big question is whether Microsoft can get the cost of the projector down. because if you google short throw projector, you won't see any cheap ones. that's going to determine whether you can release this or not. if the projector is going to cost $300+, that become a nonfactor to a lot of gamers.
 
Sounds like it will at most be an add on peripheral then--which is good as then it won't get shoehorned into/required by many games.

I'm just old and stuck in my ways I guess. I just want to sit on the couch, stare at the TV and play games with a regular controller. :D

My main hopes with the next X-box are that it launches relatively cheaply $300-400 and has backwards compatibility, so no crazy new tech like this makes the first part of that more likely.. Then I'd just trade in my Xbox, and maybe my PS3 if I can get most of that backlog knocked out, and buy one closer to launch.
 
First thing that came to mind for me after seeing the newest video was sports games. The projection could be the fans as a way to try and get you more immersed into the game. I would get more into a sports game if I look at my wall and I see the fans behind my T.V.
 
[quote name='highoffcoffee496']Microsoft: Next-gen Xbox won’t include revolutionary ‘IllumiRoom’ feature at launch[/QUOTE]

Probably for the best. This technology is a bit too "out-there" to be incorporated into the NextBox as a default feature. Having it as a potential future peripheral makes a lot more sense.

At the same time, it's a little bit of a shame. Making a peripheral part of the default hardware package is one of the only ways to insure development support for it. There are so many different peripherals and control schemes these days that no developer can be expected to design for them all. Everyone is having to pick and choose.
 
Who is going to buy this thing if it's not included in the console? I mean it's a clever gimmick, but it's hard to imagine that many would pay for it separately. Therefore developers won't bother to develop for it. Might as well consider it dead in the water.
 
This actually does look pretty cool, I liked the info they gave when they first showed it off and the new video is even better, I'll probably get it if the price is right and if it will fit in one of the rooms I game in.
 
[quote name='Vap']This could be really amazing for horror games.[/QUOTE]

wouldn't it?

you could have the walls of your living room bleeding. you can have ghostly moving shadows dart around. imagine the mood lighting as the lamp sways back and forth. you could have a ghost come out of your wall.
 
Looks like I'm skipping out on the next generation of consoles.
 
[quote name='highoffcoffee496']Microsoft: Next-gen Xbox won’t include revolutionary ‘IllumiRoom’ feature at launch

"The Microsoft researchers told Engadget that IllumiRoom will be demoed as a concept in July at the earliest and they gave no indication of when it might actually launch to the public. Microsoft’s next Xbox is set to debut on May 21st, so IllumiRoom clearly won’t be part of the show."

http://news.yahoo.com/microsoft-next-gen-xbox-won-t-revolutionary-illumiroom-163048795.html[/QUOTE]

Yeah that's understandable as Sony's working with VR headsets and they're just in the research phase as well. Both are a nice glimpse of what's to come though. An optional add on is nice because like others said it's not going to have to be used or forced on all the developers to come up with something to do with it, cough Kinect. On the other hand if it came with the system then developers would utilize it and we'd most likely get something cool out of it. An example would be the add-on 2nd circle pad for Nintendo's handheld 3DS.
 
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