MS Research: IllumiRoom *spin*

[Simon F]

So did anyone try out the demonstration that was in the Emerging Tech section of SIGGRAPH?

 

[dlm]

When people talk about the extended scene rendering, they're leaving out the fact that the fidelity of the content rendered outside of the main frame is incredibly low. It's way, way cheaper to render the stuff outside of the screen than what's on-screen.

It's really clear in the demo on the video. Outside of the screen there is basically nothing but basic geometry and blobs of color (notice how none of the buildings have windows outside of the frame and the sword's actual geometry isn't rendered outside of the frame).

Obviously it's not no-cost to render more pixels, but you can dramatically reduce the cost by using fewer and cheaper assets and lower resolution for the extended frame given that that's not where the user is going to be focused anyway. It's not dramatically different from tech demos that crank out incredible perceived fidelity by using eye tracking to render at very high detail at the focal point and much lower detail everywhere else.

 

[Silent_Buddha]

Yes, that's the point. This is a more "practical" application of the research that Microsoft has done into foveated rendering. By making the assumption that the user will always be looking at the TV screen, you remove the requirement of having to track the user's pupils in order to determine where their vision is currently focused. That removes the most expensive part of foveated rendering with regards to hardware cost.

Regards,
SB

 

[tritosine5G]

haha

Yes, that's the point. This is a more "practical" application of the research that Microsoft has done into foveated rendering. By making the assumption that the user will always be looking at the TV screen, you remove the requirement of having to track the user's pupils in order to determine where their vision is currently focused. That removes the most expensive part of foveated rendering with regards to hardware cost.

Regards,
SB

That removes the most expensive part of foveated rendering with regards to hardware cost.

display?

 

[bkilian]

display?

accurate eyeball tracking.

 

[milk]

accurate eyeball tracking.

I wouldn't call that acurate. More of a gross estimation.

 

[bkilian]

I wouldn't call that acurate. More of a gross estimation.

No, I was answering what the most expensive part of foveated rendering is.

 

[Sxotty]

I know I am really late to the boat, but I just stumbled onto this and for the first time ever see a thing that might make me interested in consoles instead of a PC

 

[RudeCurve]

I know I am really late to the boat, but I just stumbled onto this and for the first time ever see a thing that might make me interested in consoles instead of a PC

Same here..I finally watched that video and...

The "room shader" is very cool.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2013-09-02-illumiroom-unlikely-for-xbox-one

"It's very, very cool tech but for a consumer it requires projectors and things," he said. "It's really super-neat if you're in the lab and you've got Microsoft money and you could totally set up this awesome lab, but...
"We looked at it, but for an average customer it's thousands of dollars [for the set up]."

As some of us were saying all along. But it'd still make for great, unique arcade experiences. Maybe MS should become an arcade provider? They've quite a few high-end techs that aren't suitable for home use but could make for unique experiences.

 

[rockaman]

It's a projector, of course it was going to be too expensive. Before the Xbox One reveal, some journos and closet projector fans were even trying to convince others and saying that this was going to be a staple of the new system... not likely...

Not only does the price obstacle have to be overcome with something like this, there must also be an expectation that people will actually take the pains in setting up and maintaining a device like this in their living space... not happening.

This type of technology is already used for things like ballroom shows and parties, but it's not a mainstream living room item.