Xbox 720 Technology to Project Games onto your Wall

Xbox 720 Technology to Project Games onto your Wall

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It seems that the next generation of the Xbox Kinect may do more than just track your body. Xbox tech in a Microsoft patent describes how it will project the game onto your entire room! Here's the low down on this awesomely interesting new tech;

On Sunday Patently Apple detailed a Microsoft patent just recently published by the US Trademark and Patent Office that describes technology that would transform your entire living room into a game environment. The patent reads: "An immersive display environment is provided to a human user by projecting a peripheral image onto environmental surfaces around the user. The peripheral images serve as an extension to a primary image displayed on a primary display."

Put another way: You're playing a motion-controlled Gears of War. If you scan ahead for enemies, they might be taking cover behind broken walls not just on your TV but maybe to the right on your walls. You might be able to see an attack from the air on your ceiling. A locust soldier could sneak up behind you and you could literally turn around to face them.

What is the tech? The Xbox itself is outputting both the primary image on your television and the secondary images on your walls. It's not necessarily 3D tech either. The figures shown in the patent detail 2D displays, though the tech would be compatible with 3D TVs and could be augmented with "suitable headgear." In addition to a new version of Kinect is a depth camera that generates the depth information needed for the environment meaning it knows where everything in the room is while the Kinect focuses on where you are. The depth camera might also be built with a three-dimensional scanner that will collect any non-visible light (infrared, etc.) given off by monitors or projectors.

Creating a more immersive video game environment is clearly a priority for Microsoft with the Xbox 720 and the overall future of the Xbox brand. Back in March, another Microsoft patent was made public for "Projector Eyewear for Xbox and Beyond." These goggles would work in place of a television for the Xbox, projecting a virtual screen in front of the user. It's not quite the same as turning your living room into the game, but it's one more example of how Microsoft's engineers envision the future of games.

I will say that this sounds pretty cool. My only concern would be that what happens with all the obstructions in the way like furniture, cabinets, etc? One would think that the only way to have a full on VR experience would be to have this in an empty room?