Microsoft's IllumiRoom Unlikely To Be Greenlit

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I don't know about you but I actually liked this idea. Too bad they could figure out a way to make it cost effective.

"I wouldn’t expect you’ll see that,” Penello said. “It’s very, very cool tech but it’s, like, for a consumer, it requires projectors and things. It’s really super-neat if you’re in the lab and you’ve got Microsoft money and you could totally set up this awesome lab, but... we looked at it, but for an average customer it’s, like, thousands of dollars [for the set up]."
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I can't believe this is not being greenlit... could they not take it to about 400$ mark maybe 500$... its awesoness.
 
Thousands of dollars? Kinect? Cheap ~800x600 projector???

Sounds more like excuses and less like legit.
 
Very little from Microsoft Research actually gets developed.

Did you guys see the 3D intractable hologram they made a while ago?
 
First problem is that projectors tend to be noisy, and LED projectors with good lumen output aren't that cheap. You further need to get power to it, so you're either ceiling mounting it (expensive install), or have a power cord sticking out by your legs on the table.

More importantly, if you're going to bother with a quality projector system and the install hassles, why not just get rid of the TV in the first place and just get yourself a nice big 120" projector screen?

You get much more immersion with a bigger screen, than staring at a very small screen and having the rest projected onto an uneven surface.
 
I think the primary reason they won't Greenlight this is because the Kinect would have to face the TV, rather than the users. Microsoft wants no part of that.
 
I already own a projector, I'd so do this for that wave effect when you fire a gun, thats freaking awesome. They should green light it as just the software so if you already own the proper hardware it's just a run and go, kind of like 3d. If you already own the hardware, it's just buying the software (movies and such) but there is a bit of a buy in if you need it all. Plus it's not even needed to do enjoy but if you want to you can.
 
The real issue here is they knew all along it would be cost prohibitive for home users, but showed it off anyway to jerk everyone off into preordering, that along with the other announcement today about no external storage for the XBONE, you gotta wonder what other bombs they're going to drop on preorder suckers before launch.
 
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That looks awesome.
 
That's awesome, and I don;t think it's so cost prohibitive. I just found a 3D 1080P projector and remote control screen for $200 at a yard sale, and it's an off brand that only typically costs $350. The projector performance ins't that great but you know what, it would be great for this type usage.
 
thats really neat! I would totally set that up in my living room... hell this would almost make me consider buying a console
 
I would buy that for my PC and I'm the cheapest SOB known to man. Microsoft just doesn't get it. Watch Google come up with the same thing next year and Microsoft cry foul.
 
The kinect was only used for a prototype. The real version would have had that built in.

The problem here is that you can't just use some cheap projector. Notice that they said that you would need a wide FOV projector. you need to fill a 120" or larger screen from 5 feet away. How far away do most of you have your projectors? Guessing more than 5 or so feet from the screen.

While we won't see this now, I could see them coming back at a later point in time and making this once technology cost come down more.
 
Exavior said:
The kinect was only used for a prototype. The real version would have had that built in.

The problem here is that you can't just use some cheap projector. Notice that they said that you would need a wide FOV projector. you need to fill a 120" or larger screen from 5 feet away. How far away do most of you have your projectors? Guessing more than 5 or so feet from the screen.

While we won't see this now, I could see them coming back at a later point in time and making this once technology cost come down more.
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That is exactly it. I think this was something Microsoft came up with just to show us how neat these concepts are despite initially knowing that it isn't going to be a doable project on a mass scale. I completely expect them to revisit this at some point in the future. While this is definitely cool, my big problem would be that I don't have a coffee table to sit a projector, and I don't sit very far from my TV.
 
Another problem is that you would need to draw a lot more of the scene for the next 6 or so years the xbox one isn't going to have the power to have 180 degree fov.
 
I would love that tech, but just watching the video in certain segments made me nauseous. I don't suffer from motion issues when gaming either... which is odd. I can't imagine what the effect would be like in person.
 
I personally wouldn't want my game being projected onto all of the crap in my room.
 
rudy said:
Another problem is that you would need to draw a lot more of the scene for the next 6 or so years the xbox one isn't going to have the power to have 180 degree fov.
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That was the one thing that was never brought up clearly. I couldn't tell what exactly was supposed to be running the projector. At first i thought a seperate pc was doing all of that, but then I don't know how it would be able to tell exactly what was to be drawn outside of the screen. however I guess if it required a datafile for the game that might be possible. They did say that this sytem required them to have full access to the game codebase or something likethat. So i guess if you had to download some type of a dataset for every single game that could allow the pc to know by watching your tv to know where you are and what you are doing to know what to draw. otherwise it would just do the minor things that they had there for unknown games.
 
Looks really cool, but wouldn't it just be easier to use the projector to actually project the game or movie onto a larger screen?
 
I disagree I think it can be made cheap... Yeah you need a high lumen projector but not necessary high-res.. to there is already trade-offs, cheaper electronics, possible cheaper lenses.. its going to be projected on walls, there is no point of high end lens or electronics.. The Kinect hardware is cheap POS, and it most likely can be reused to a kind of insect vision, simpler color/light sensors.
I agree installation can be hassle, but that its the owners problem.

And of course, a big projector with a nice screen is better, but that would mean modifing my entire living, I am no doing that, this product would not mean that at all.

Just WTF is wrong with MS.. I doubt they pursued this to the point of knowing production costs.. there would be prototypes somewhere.
 
Uvaman said:
And of course, a big projector with a nice screen is better, but that would mean modifing my entire living, I am no doing that, this product would not mean that at all.
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Which begs the question why buy an expensive high-lumens projector for the sole purpose of NOT taking full advantage of it - meaning a large image on a real screen. How many people would really do that just to have some distracting extra-sensory crap bouncing around the boundaries of the TV. I think you'd quickly realize its just fatiguing trying to tune it out to focus on the game.

Much like the bad ergonomics of vertical touchscreens, Illumiroom makes for great demo but falls apart when put into actual use.
 
Exavior said:
The problem here is that you can't just use some cheap projector. Notice that they said that you would need a wide FOV projector. you need to fill a 120" or larger screen from 5 feet away. How far away do most of you have your projectors? Guessing more than 5 or so feet from the screen.
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That's true--my projector usually sits about 16' away from the wall. But they didn't explain in the video why you need a short-throw projector. I understand that most people might not have a big/long room for a traditional projector, but still...
 
cageymaru said:
I would buy that for my PC and I'm the cheapest SOB known to man. Microsoft just doesn't get it. Watch Google come up with the same thing next year and Microsoft cry foul.
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It is unlikely that would be effective for a PC setup, due to the average desktop PC user sitting considerably closer to the display that a typical console/TV situation. You body would just get in the way of the projector output in that situation.

It would be perfectly cool if you were using your PC hooked up to your TV instead of a console, though. And if that's what you meant I apologize profusely!
 
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