Microsoft’s IllumiRoom Turns Your Entire Room Into A Game (Video)

This year in annual Consumers Electronic Show, some of the world’s best gadgets were displayed but Microsoft didn’t even have an official press conference but still somehow they managed to hold the stage twice. Microsoft teased what could be the world’s first “full gaming experience”. It teased a new concept that might show up with the up coming Xbox 720 and that is IllumiRoom. Check out the details regarding IllumiRoom below

Microsoft IllumiRoom For Xbox

The IllumiRoom is a concept based on the combination of a Kinect for Windows camera and a projector, it is the fusion of the virtual and physical world of a TV and living room for true augmented reality. According to Microsoft IllumiRoom is a “proof-of-concept system,” which might be integrated with Xbox 720 and Kinect 2.

Check out the video below which shows Microsoft’s IllumiRoom.

Last week, Rudder said,

“The footage shown here is exactly what appeared in our lab without any special effects being added,”

So how does this IllumiRoom for Xbox work? Well the video shows exactly how; a person simply tells Xbox to “go big” and it scans the room before projecting images to the surrounding area.

Now the question is, will it be useful for Microsoft to invest in an augmented reality? It seems that it might be useful because after IllumiRoom there are many other projects in the pipeline like, Kinect Fusion, Beamatron, Holodesk, Holodeck, and Digits. The dates for all these projects are not reveled but according to some rumors the company may be preparing an early unveil of some future Xbox plans ahead of a main event at E3. And for Kinect 2 “LiveWall” will be introduced that uses a projection unit to “allow game environments to be projected nearly 360 degrees around the user.” This information lines up with the IllumiRoom project.

The concept of this IllumiRoom is surely the future of Xbox, which means it is a threat for Sony. Microsoft’s Shahram Izadi played a video from Sony, which explains what the expected future of video games. He said:

“It is about drawing the physical world into the user interface and it’s about the user interface coming out into the real world. It’s about these two worlds colliding and merging together.”

Using Sony as the medium is obviously a bit confusing but it seems that there is much more to come from Microsoft this year, for that you have to wait and watch.

What are your thoughts on this IllumiRoom from Microsoft?