Neowin

Motion controlled gaming really hit the ground running with the introduction of the Wii and the Wiimote. Microsoft, well they went one better when they introduced Kinect – no motion sensitive controller needed, just you and whatever limb you’d like to bring! But what else could Microsoft do to better the gaming experience?

While it’s now known that the Xbox One will require a Kinect (at least for now, if rumours are to be believed), one of the next big gaming gimmicks has already been getting the patent treatment with the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

The recently applied for patent, details how two cameras capture a space and project images back into the same space as an “integrated interactive space.” It’s also known as Illumiroom and it works with or utilizes Kinect to get its job done.

Now, Microsoft has shown it off already and we even reported on the technology before it was known as Illumiroom. But for the moment, it’s only Microsoft Research that is getting to go over the tech, work with its limitations and refine it for whatever use they see fit. But if the patent application is related to Kinect, we should eventually expect all things gaming to become even more interactive.

Source and image: USPTO
Via: Engadget

I'm really looking forward for this. The trailer and the tech demo of Illumiroom is very impressive :)
I really hope Microsoft makes this happen, Microsoft R&D is so awesome!

X1, with this addition if implemented will be the real "next gen" IMO. So far it's the most advanced gaming platform out of the 3.

I thought they had already patented this before, but when looking around I found this
http://www.lazygamer.net/xbox-360/has-microsoft-stolen-illumiroom/

US2007247518 patent from 2007

To supplement a video display on a conventional television, a surround video stream is projected onto wall and other surfaces adjacent the television. The surround video stream may derive from a wide angle lens camera positioned alongside the main camera. The surround video stream may be processed in a local processor to compensate for departures from planar geometry in the wall surfaces. Where no surround video stream is received, a video processor may synthesize a surround video stream from the main video signal. Moving objects represented in the main video signal may be synthesized in the surround video to provide the perception of movement across the viewer's full field of view.

I guess automating the compensation process with Kinect is what MS is patenting?

EP1843581 (A3)  US2007247518 (A1)  JP2007295559 (A)  GB2436921 (A)  are all existing patents, originating from earlier works of the BBC
I hope MS gets their collective asses kicked for blatantly trying to steal once again...

Only thing they can patent is potentially the fact it's fully real time. Everything else has been done for ages!

well, microsoft works with projection mapping for much longer as those bbc patents are from. 

using a tv in the middle and have projection mapping around it is not really something special. 

but maybe you also think that we should have only one company producing smartphones because this company was the first which had the idea to have a display on the phone.

There doesn't seem to be a conflict, this new MS patent builds on possible implementations with Illumiroom like components, it's not patenting Illumiroom itself, it has more to do with live conference interaction.

20130201276 Techniques for implementing an integrative interactive space are described. In implementations, video cameras that are positioned to capture video at different locations are synchronized such that aspects of the different locations can be used to generate an integrated interactive space. The integrated interactive space can enable users at the different locations to interact, such as via video interaction, audio interaction, and so on. In at least some embodiments, techniques can be implemented to adjust an image of a participant during a video session such that the participant appears to maintain eye contact with other video session participants at other locations. Techniques can also be implemented to provide a virtual shared space that can enable users to interact with the space, and can also enable users to interact with one another and/or objects that are displayed in the virtual shared space.

What it could do for games is, with fortaleza glasses you can play a virtual board game online with the other people projected around the table. 3D strip UNO!

I'll admit as of now I'm not a fan of Xbox one but this looks very promising, it would be a big system seller in my opinion, would be wise micosoft to advertise your new console with this tech to sell some major consoles!

It would open a precedent that would get the Mario Karts and Wiimote stealers in very big trouble