Next-gen Xbox may come bundled with Illumiroom

The next-gen Xbox may come with a new way to play games. According to Eurogamer, it’s rumoured the Illumiroom technology may come bundled with the console. Illumiroom uses the Kinect and a projector to overlay whatever happens in your peripheral vision on the walls. The rumours are a result of a video Microsoft has released in preparation for the Conference on Human-Computer Interaction 2013, which will be held in Paris. Check out the video:

The video shows, among other games, Valve’s Portal being played using the Illumiroom. “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 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.”

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So far, the Illumiroom has simply been a proof-of-concept, but it could be combined with the more powerful Kinect 2 to actually make this a possibility. We will just have to wait until Microsoft’s event in May to know more.

Microsoft first demonstrated Illumiroom earlier this year during CES. The company used a Kinect for Windows camera and a projector for Illumiroom. Chief Technical Strategy Officer of Microsoft, Eric Rudder said the technology could be used to enhance anything—even TV shows and movies. According to Microsoft, the system uses the appearance and geometry of the room, which is captured by Kinect, to adopt projected visuals in real-time without the need to pre-process the graphics.