Microsoft moots IllumiRoom with next Xbox

IllumiRoom, which uses Kinect and a projector to combine the virtual and physical worlds, may be a part of the next Xbox, according to a new report.

Microsoft is set to reveal more about the tech at the CHI 2013 event in Paris tomorrow, and has cut together a brief video showing how it would work with, to use Microsoft's words, "a next-generation gaming console" (spotted by The Verge). The video is below.

"IllumiRoom envisions a next-generation gaming console with a projector that sits on your coffee table and surrounds your television with projected light," says the chirpy narrator.

"IllumiRoom can extend the gaming content out of your TV, creating a truly immersive experience. Or we can selectively show game elements, like explosions, or make it snow in our living room."

The video shows, briefly, IllumiRoom working with Valve's Portal.

IllumiRoom can change the appearance of a room, induce apparent motion and extend the field of view. It uses Kinect to gather information on the appearance and geometry of the room and adapt the projected visuals in real-time.

The idea is that a projector sits on your coffee table and projects light that surrounds your telly, extending the image.

This is all proof of concept for now, but could we see IllumiRoom, combined with Kinect 2, star at Microsoft's 21st May next Xbox reveal? The Verge's Microsoft reporter Tom Warren, who has a good track record on the gargantuan US company, suggests so.

There's more on IllumiRoom on the Microsoft Research website. A full, five minute-long demo video is below.