IllumiRoom would be too expensive for consumers, says Microsoft

One of the most eye catching technologies Microsoft has shown off in the past year or two, has been IllumiRoom, a strange, projector system, that places in-game footage over your living room wall and floor, instead of just on the usual display – seemingly forgetting the point we have projector screens in the first place. However, despite its strange, bookshelf overlayed gameplay, Microsoft doesn't think this would ever catch on, because it would just be too expensive.

When asked about the technology by Ausgamers at Gamescom, Microsoft's head of product planning for the Xbox One, Albert Penello had this to say: “I wouldn’t expect you’ll see that [on the Xbox One]. It’s very, very cool tech but it’s, like, for a consumer, it requires projectors and things. 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, like, thousands of dollars [for the set up].”

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On top of the projector cost, there's also the cost of having a room of the house that nobody can walk through while you're gaming. If they did, it would destroy any sort of illusion.

Microsoft showed off an Illumiroom concept earlier this year at CES, back when we were all calling it the Xbox 720.

KitGuru Says: Maybe I'm being unfair. It might be the case that when you're playing like this, you continue to look at the screen and just take in the added projected extras via your peripherals, making you more immersed – but surely you'd just be better off investing in a bigger screen? 

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