Microsoft patent reveals whole-room immersion ambitions

12 September 2012

A recent Microsoft patent has revealed its ambitions to bring the gaming environment out of the TV and onto the walls of your living room. Patently Apple, which analyses the patent applications of Apple and other technology competitors found the filing from August and has published a detailed overview of the document.

Microsoft apparently plans to use a future version of its Kinect sensor to accurately plot the position of a gamer within a game’s virtual environment and then to allow a games console to project that environment onto the walls of the room. The patent further speculates that both the main display and projected environment could be based on 3D technology to provide an even more immersive experience.
Now, whilst this is simply a patent application, not a product plan, the possibilities are pretty exciting. As we’ve already seen its perfectly possible to couple gaming technologies with high resolution imaging systems for some impressive results. It would be perfectly possible to hook a Kinect sensor with a high performance graphics rig to drive a fully immersive cave-style environment. All we need now is solid projected images, and we’ve finally got the holodeck!