Illuminati - boom boom, Microsoft's gonna illuminate your..

ROOM!!


Looking quite cool actually. Check it out: Illumiroom.

Now, I don't know about you guys but if a grenade appeared to fall out of my tv screen I would PANIC!!!!

Great stuff. You just need to buy a projector, which begs the question, why not just use that instead?

But for some seriously freak out stuff, take a butchers yourself at the vid.

Impressive to say the least!
Unfortunately I would need to move her out or move house to use a projector.
The design layout in the 1900's didnt forward plan for all of todays gizmos

look forward to May 21

I wasn't impressed one tiny little bit because its all about motion controlled gaming that does nothing for me,besides your going to have to turn one of your rooms in the house into some kind of Kinect Laboratory .

the technology is cool but how long before the whole thing becomes just another gimmick with little in the way of decent games.

I wait and see what they announce 21st May but this press conference does not have me excited,there going to have to come up with some mind blowing specifications and Games to leap what Sony has done.

Yeah, something tells me MS, being an American company tend to think everyone has a huge living room to play in. Mind you, they did say they used a very wide angle projector thing. But still, not the most practical device ever to use.

Roll on May 21st. Unlike Timey I'm feeling positive.

my thoughts exactly

Microsoft you really have lost the plot.

Can't disagree with the guy's thinking except for hearing the moan about how MS should not try to cater for home entertainment as well as gaming. I think that's up to MS and there's clearly an underlying strategy in them offering movie downloads and other stuff just cos it makes them lotsa dollahs. If the option's there then great but you don't have to use the additional services if you don't want to.

Back to Illumiroom. I gotta agree that it is really just a nice tech demo but then I like advancement in technology even if it doesn't have very practical applications. Quite a few product improvements come from allowing researchers plenty of scope to experiment in the same way the Kinnect staff provided many disparate industries the base technology to reprogram for unrelated and unenvisaged uses, like medical applications and for other entertainment uses beyond gaming.

I personally think the Illumiroom things is cool but like the article write and you, Timey old boy, don't see it as being a very practical option at all for the vast majority not until projector technology is hugely improved and costs are scaled down to peanuts asking prices. It needs to work (more than just barely) in a well lit room and not many projectors do that that don't cost ridiculous sums of money. There are potentially loads of great innovations that can make gaming a more immersive experience that either exist now (like good surround sound) or an army of peripherals. But yeah, most are very gimmicky even if their build design is to an acceptable standard. Surround sound, as we all know, requires many speakers (typically wired) and just look at how much aggro that creates.

Yeah, so. Good tech demo. Love the innovation. Keep it up Microsoft. Shame non of it will matter that much for a long while yet. But they're heading in the right direction in my view and I think both the Kinnect and Illumiroom thing are worlds apart from most of the rubbish Nintendo have released and particularly all the junk from yesteryear that I remember. But hey, if people enjoy it it's not junk to them. There's probably even a place for the Nintendo balance board thing if you skateboarding or something eh?

I have to say it did look pretty immersive at times, although I don't agree about the daylight thing. I only ever game in low light, I find that alone feels far more immersive, but this would take that to the next level.

But I do expect cost to be prohibitive to the average gamer, although I would never buy into the xbox brand in the first place to be honest.

Great tech though. Next stop the holodeck.

Yeah, optimism! Holodecks all round! That's more like it and I bet Microsoft would be first to design one of those too, they're actually proving to be quite an innovative company these days.

Agree, I tend to only play games/watch movies in a darkened room. It is more immersive and you are more connected for sure, not to mention you have improved contrast levels. But I guess there are plenty of gamers who play in brightly lit conditions too.

Still, it's quite a cool idea even if it isn't practical.

Well, check this out: 180 degree television for the home?

Seems Microsoft aren't the only ones 'thinking outside the box'. Hoho.

I think I prefer the Illumiroom. Much more impressive!

I prefer sitting in the dentist chair having all my teeth extracted