
Microsoft’s ‘RoomAlive’ transforms any room into a giant Xbox game - kenrick95
http://www.theverge.com/2014/10/5/6912979/microsoft-roomalive-research-projector-system
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ekianjo
Interesting project, but projectors always have the issues that they project
shadows as well and unless you have every area filled in a redundant way, you
will end up breaking the illusion when you enter the room and project your own
shadow. On top of that, I am not sure if there's much to do, game-wise, in
such an environment.

EDIT: I'd be more excited with Full Room VR experience, using Kinect devices
everywhere to detect your movements, hands and so on.

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cm127
Even more distracting than the shadows would be the fixed perspective. Unless
you include some form of head tracking, the immersion will never feel real.
Unfortunately, it'll limit one person per room.

Classic example of head tracking: [http://youtu.be/Jd3-eiid-
Uw](http://youtu.be/Jd3-eiid-Uw)

~~~
baddox
Using the same idea as 3D projection, you could support multiple people per
room, but with reduced frame rate and the requirement that they wear glasses.

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craz
Maybe not as a gaming experience. But this could be super cool in the kitchen.
Imagine having your recipe or cooking video projected onto the bench or wall
and follow you around as you prepare the meal. No more worrying about getting
food on your laptop.

~~~
ChuckMcM
You realize of course that 'in the kitchen with recipes' is like the Cold
Fusion of computers right? Ever since Altair first talked about "your very own
microcomputer" there has been a "and you can have all your recipes at your
fingertips in the kitchen" meme to go along with it. And it has _never_
happened. Seriously, its like the anti-app or something.

~~~
Alterlife
It has already happened. My wife uses an ipad rather than a cook-book in the
kitchen all the time.

Besides, no well prepared meal is complete without a pic of the completed work
uploaded to facebook :-) .

~~~
prawn
Is she cooking from one app/format that could be projected easily? When using
a resource like that, I usually cook from a mixture of books, blogs, recipe
sites and so on. It would be too difficult to get that info put onto a clearly
readable display IMO. Sometimes they're lists, sometimes they're fragments of
info in image captions, or in a story.

~~~
Retric
I suspect sound is probably a much better approach. A good speaker +
microphone and you can intuitively do things like set 30 minute timers as you
put something in the oven. Or just get a quick rehash of the next steps.
"Finished kneading bread, now what?"

Also, a single recipe is fairly easy to follow, handling a few a the same time
is where a computer could actually be useful.

~~~
prawn
I have posted here before about an app that helps you schedule a set of
recipes so that things are ready in sequence. It would show you what can be
prepared in advance, what needs to be done just before plating, etc. A recipe
Gantt chart.

I could also make use of a touchscreen splashback showing either general
entertainment or recipes where I could strike off ingredients or steps as they
were completed. Saves having the iPad or a book taking up bench space.

Could have touchscreen in one area and then display with heat-resistant glass
behind the cooktop. Maybe in 10 years time.

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aaron695
Obvious game killing issues -

Any game that would be fun to play would be too dangerous to sell.

I can't see it narratively being more immersive than a simple computer
screen/tv. To much disjoint from things in the room/3D open space would stop
that hypnotic state people get when concentrating on a screen.

Applications outside games might be interesting. Commercial venues for
interactive stories perhaps.

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TeMPOraL
I want that for our Hackerspace. It reminds me of the recent Bret Victor's
talk, "Seeing Spaces".

[http://vimeo.com/97903574](http://vimeo.com/97903574)

[http://s3.amazonaws.com/worrydream.com/SeeingSpaces/SeeingSp...](http://s3.amazonaws.com/worrydream.com/SeeingSpaces/SeeingSpaces.pdf)

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mratzloff
And you only need six projectors, six Kinects, and all light-colored surfaces!

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tuxidomasx
How will they handle someone casually looking up/around? I have a projector
and sometimes I accidentally walk infront of it, facing the bulb. The light is
unpleasant when shone directly into the eyes.

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leoc
Looks like a poor man's CAVE
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cave_automatic_virtual_environ...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cave_automatic_virtual_environment)
for your bedroom. They should have called it the ManCAVE. ;)

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higherpurpose
This doesn't look anywhere near as immersive as VR.

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ctaglia
This reminds me a black mirror episode!

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higherpurpose
Since when is TheVerge a good source for HN? (just as it's starting to get
hated in others places - Reddit - no less)

