Science Fiction
Dictionary
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
 |
Microsoft Patents Immersive Display
A patent for an "immersive display experience" filed by Microsoft in 2011 has been published by the US Patent Office. The patent describes a video game system with a connected "environmental display" that projects an image that "appears to surround the user".
(Microsoft Immersive Display )
Such a projector wouldn't replace the central TV display used in current consoles, but it would provide a "peripheral image" that would "serve as an extension" of that primary display. The purpose, of course, is to extend the gaming environment outside of the TV screen, so a player could, for instance, "turn around and observe an enemy sneaking up from behind."The display device as described is integrated tightly with a depth-sensing camera system (read: Kinect) that could even be housed in the same casing as the environmental projector, according to the application. This device could be a standard two-camera, structured-light-sensing system like the current Kinect, or a more sophisticated model that could include "multiple image capture devices" to "stitch a panoramic image from a plurality of captured images" pointed in all directions around the room.
Regardless of the form, the depth-sensing camera described in the patent application aids the environmental projector by sensing the layout and topography of the room. This allows the projector to provide color and distortion correction, so the projected images look correct even when cast against different walls and pieces of furniture.
SF fans recall several predecessors to the idea of a Star Trek: The Next Generation "holodeck" as presented in that show's 1987 pilot episode. Read about the Veldt from Ray Bradbury's 1951 novel The Illustrated Man and the dimensino from the 1961 novel Time is the Simplest Thing, by Clifford Simak.
The closest prediction to this patent (and to first-person-shooter games in general) is probably the virtual "rifle range" from Simak's award-winning 1963 Way Station. In the novel, Enoch Wallace was a man with a rural upbringing who fought in the Civil War. When he was approached by aliens about running a way station in the galactic chain, he was asked if he would like some sort of entertainment center built into the station.
The basement was huge... carved deep into the rock that folded up to underlie the ridge...Finally the gallery widened into an oval room and the walls here were padded with a thick gray substance that would entrap a bullet and prevent a ricochet.
Enoch walked over to a panel ... and thumbed a tumbler, then stepped quickly out into the center of the room... He stood on a little hillock and in front of him the land sloped down to a sluggish river bordered by a width of marsh.
(Read more about the virtual rifle range)
From Microsoft immersive display patent via Arstechnica.
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 9/13/2012)
Follow this kind of news @Technovelgy.| Email | RSS | Blog It | Stumble | del.icio.us | Digg | Reddit |
Would
you like to contribute a story tip?
It's easy:
Get the URL of the story, and the related sf author, and add
it here.
Comment/Join discussion ( 0 )
Related News Stories - (" Entertainment ")
Lucid Dreams On Demand From Prophetic and Card79
'the peeper did not operate by virtue of its machinery alone, but by the reaction of the brain and the body of its user...' - Clifford Simak, 1957.
Flyboard Water Jet Shoes Lift Off
'I shall never forget that first lesson in aerial walking.' - Francis Flagg, 1930.
Cosplay Style Wings Could Work On Moon
'They're lovely! - titanalloy struts as light and strong as bird-bones...' - Robert Heinlein, 1957.
Music Not Impossible (MNI) Vibrotactile Wearable Experience
Don't you want to experience the 'feely' effects?
Technovelgy (that's tech-novel-gee!) is devoted to the creative science inventions and ideas of sf authors. Look for the Invention Category that interests you, the Glossary, the Invention Timeline, or see what's New.
Science Fiction
Timeline
1600-1899
1900-1939
1940's 1950's
1960's 1970's
1980's 1990's
2000's 2010's
Current News
Mechazilla Arms Catch A Falling Starship, But Check Out SF Landing-ARMS
'...the rocket’s landing-arms automatically unfolded.'
A System To Defeat AI Face Recognition
'...points and patches of light... sliding all over their faces in a programmed manner that had been designed to foil facial recognition systems.'
Robot Hand Separate From Robot
'The crawling, exploring object was V-Stephen's surgeon-hand...'
Hybrid Wind Solar Devices
'...the combined Wind-Suncatcher, like a spray of tulips mounted fanwise.'
Is Optimus Autonomous Or Teleoperated?
'I went to the control room where the three other men were manipulating their mechanical men.'
Robot Masseuse Rubs People The Right Way
'The automatic massager began to fumble gently...'
Solar-Powered Space Trains On The Moon
'The low-slung monorail car, straddling its single track, bored through the shadows on a slowly rising course.'
Drone Deliveries Instead Of Waiters In Restaurants?
'It was a smooth ovoid floating a few inches from the floor...'
Optimus Robot Can Charge Itself
'... he thrust in his charging arm to replenish his store of energy.'
Skip Movewear Arc'teryx AI Pants
'...the terrible Jovian gravity that made each movement an effort.'
'Robovan' Name Already Taken - Elon, Try These
There are alternative names that are probably in the public domain by now.
How Old Are Tesla Designs?
You be the judge.
Is Your Autonomous Tractor Safe?
'The field-minder finished turning the top-soil of a two-thousand-acre field.'
Smart TVs Are Listening!
'You had to live -- did live, from habit that became instinct -- in the assumption that every sound you made was overheard...'
Police Drones In China Would Like To Have A Word With You
''OVERRIDE,' the City Fathers said suddenly, without being asked anything at all.'
Oh Great (Part 2), Fence-Climbing Robots
Please, no stingers.
