Microsoft IllumiRoom will Blow your Mind (and Room)

I was hoping for Microsoft to support virtual reality goggles (like the Oculus Rift) on the next Xbox, but it seems they have another thing in mind - and that, truth be told, should be less "nauseating" to those prone to motion sickness; as well as providing a more social experience, as everyone will be able to enjoy the effect and not only the one wearing the VR set.

Microsoft's IllumiRoom can almost be compared to a "Holodeck", as it transforms your room into a virtual landscape in sync with your Xbox games (and movies). No, it's not the same as simply projecting a large image over your furniture. The system is capable of detecting and recognizing the objects in there, and calibrate itself accordingly. It even allows you to change your furniture color, or make it "invisible", or even make it "wobble" when an explosion occurs in a game.

It is truly game changing... and it opens up the possibilities for lots more. For instance, when you're watching a movie, a video of someone ringing your doorbell might popup out of the screen, over the wall, without interrupting your movie. Or how about notifications of friends getting online slowly creeping up from the floor up to the screen, and then fading away somewhere out of sight?

Let's hope this thing is ready in time for the Xbox 720 launch when it reaches the stores later this year.


[via the verge]

Samsung Face Mapping

We've all seen excelent examples of what can be done with projection mapping. The technique by which projectors can breathe life into all sorts of inanimate objects, buildings, and even automobiles.

But, to promote the arrival of its first Dual SIM smartphone in Portugal, Samsung has decided to apply the same concept to... a person's face.

Here's the first ever Face Mapping project done in Portugal and the results, as you're about to see, are equally as impressive and mesmerizing! :)

 

Android Projection Mapping by LG

To promote their line of Optimus Android smartphones, LG decided to put projection mapping to use. And the result, as you can see in the following video, is definitely one of the best examples og what you can achieve with clever graphics and powerful projectors, allowing a Berlin building façade to jump to life.

Toyota Projection Mapping

Absolutely mesmerizing, this awesome example of projection mapping applied to a car. This Toyota "Get Back Your Energy" campaign would make anyone stop in awe, trying to figure out how a parked car can become so much "alive".

There are no words to describe it: see it for yourself!

Projection Mapping

What can you do with Projection Mapping? Lots of stuff... and sometimes the results are truly mesmerizing, as this simple setup that provides a near magical experience. Watch the following video.


ENVISION : Step into the sensory box from SUPERBIEN on Vimeo.

Paper Magic Lens

One more example on how projection mapping can easily transform a sheet of paper into a 3D interface we can use to navigate different environments.

Check the following video. The laste demonstration, using it to navigate a 3D MRI scan is particularly interesting.


PaperLens: Advanced Magic Lens Interaction Above the Tabletop from UI & SE on Vimeo.

Architectural Projection Mapping

Some more excellent examples of what you can do with large-scale projection mapping.


Battle of Branchage from seeper on Vimeo.



Why wonder what Jean Michel Jarre would have accomplished if he had this kind of stuff available back in the days. ;)

Projection Mapping in Spain

One more amazing example of what you can achieve with projection mapping.

This time in Spain at Festival Ingràvid.

Telenoika Audiovisual Mapping @ Ingravid Festival, Figueres 9/2009 [FULL] from Telenoika on Vimeo.

Digital Wallpaper via Projection Mapping

Here's another interesting example of how to use projection mapping top bring new life into a shop's digital wallpaper.

Check the video:


Hirzberger Events - Digital Wallpaper from Gregor Hofbauer on Vimeo.

Dreaming Building

You should know by now just how much I love projection mapping, which projects images into real objects and surfaces with amazing results.

In this Urbanscreen project, this building suddenly comes alive just as if it were dreaming.


555 KUBIK | facade projection | from urbanscreen on Vimeo.

Projection Mapping in Car Prototyping

Who would have thought of using projection mapping to better visualize car prototypes?

Apparently, it's being done... right now. Check the following video:

Projection Mapping at its Best

It's impossible not to be amazed by Projection Mapping, a technique that uses simple projectors and images carefully adjusted to make a 3D canvas pop into life.

This is also one of its biggest hurdles: you need to carefully align everything to achieve the proper effect... Unless you leave that to your computer. Sure, it would require a lot of computer power to analyze and adjust the images in 3D space, but... isn't that what computers are for?:



You can even do similar things in real time (using OpenCV and vvvv, via AntiVJ):



And if you think abstract images are all you can do with it, check out this amazing (but slightly creepy) example of projection mapping with a human face:



via [Augmented Engineering]