Please let this be a real thing… please let this be a real thing!! You might remember a short video from a couple of months back showing Xbox games being projected around a TV, well Microsoft has released another 5 min video of this ‘proof of concept’ and the are calling it ‘Illumiroom’ and it’s AMAZING!
I’m a huge fan of the Philips Ambilight TV sets and have owned them for the past 10 years. This looks like Ambilight on steroids. It is basically a projector that sits on your coffee table and projects around the tv and on to your furniture. It uses the Kinect to scan the room and make a 3D model of it so when it projects it takes into account the shape and colour of the objects around the TV. Think of it as one of those cool building projects that make the building look like it’s moving, but for your living room.
I am seeing a few flaws that may limit this to a proof of concept / niche product – 1) its on your coffee table. Most people won’t have sockets around that area, so that means trailing cables 2) if the Kinect does scan, that will mean unplugging it positioning it on top of this projector every time you place the projector so the allingment is correct and 3) it will need a very short projection throw. Coffee tables are usually closer to the tv than your couch to to get a wide enough spread to cover the TV and a good space of wall behind it will require a short throw projector, which are usually more expensive.
Other than those 3 points, I want this soo bad it’s not even funny!
