Admin
03-29-2012, 01:20 AM
By Kyle Orland (http://arstechnica.com/author/kyle-orland/)
http://static.arstechnica.net/assets/2012/03/mshmspatent-4f68c54-intro-thumb-640xauto-31812.jpg
Illustrations from Microsoft's patent show the rough schematics for both a helmet-based display and one embedded in a pair of glasses.
Anyone who gets their hopes up every time a tech company files a new patent for some revolutionary dream device will get their heart broken more often than not. That said, we're unreasonably excited that a new Microsoft patent for a "laser-scanning virtual image display" could actually point to plans for the company to jump into the world of virtual reality gaming.
Microsoft first filed the patent back in 2010 but it was just recently eMagin (http://appft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PG01&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsrchnum.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=)" that was "completely distortion free across the entire view." Epic Games' Cliff Bleszinski followed up with a "me too" tweet (https://twitter.com/#!/therealcliffyb/status/172392686727348224) that he was working with similar hardware. Carmack later tweeted a photo (https://twitter.com/#!/ID_AA_Carmack/status/174967759216709634/photo/1) of two micro-displays embedded in ski goggles "for better immersion," and id's Matt Hooper tweeted (https://twitter.com/#!/id_Hooper/status/175268956565807104) a picture of Creative Director Tim Willits actually trying them out.
Of course it's a pretty big leap to get from these tweets to actual, active game development for a patented device Microsoft might not even be making. Even if these developers are seriously looking at head-mounted gaming, Sony has its own head-mounted display (http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/news/2011/01/hands-on-sonys-head-mounted-3d-display.ars) about ready to hit store shelves. Companies are trying to revive the idea for virtual reality PC gaming (http://arstechnica.com/gaming/news/2012/03/virtual-reality-that-doesnt-suck-my-time-inside-half-life-2.ars) as well.
But there's some reason to believe Microsoft would benefit more than other platform holders from adding a head-mounted display to its gaming hardware. One of the most limiting factors of playing with motion control technology like the Kinect is that you always have to be facing the screen to know what's going on. This leads to a lot of games where you awkwardly shuffle from side to side rather than actually turning away from the screen, as you would if you were really moving naturally. With a good head-mounted display, this problem could become a thing of the past—as long as your coffee table is well out of the way.
Again, the existence of a patent does not mean Microsoft is actively making this kind of head-mounted display. It doesn't mean the company is even thinking about making it. But we can't help but think about the possibility of Microsoft making a big, "here's something completely different" splash with such a device sometime in the future.
Image courtesy of US Patent and Trademark Office
http://static.arstechnica.net/assets/2012/03/mshmspatent-4f68c54-intro-thumb-640xauto-31812.jpg
Illustrations from Microsoft's patent show the rough schematics for both a helmet-based display and one embedded in a pair of glasses.
Anyone who gets their hopes up every time a tech company files a new patent for some revolutionary dream device will get their heart broken more often than not. That said, we're unreasonably excited that a new Microsoft patent for a "laser-scanning virtual image display" could actually point to plans for the company to jump into the world of virtual reality gaming.
Microsoft first filed the patent back in 2010 but it was just recently eMagin (http://appft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PG01&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsrchnum.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=)" that was "completely distortion free across the entire view." Epic Games' Cliff Bleszinski followed up with a "me too" tweet (https://twitter.com/#!/therealcliffyb/status/172392686727348224) that he was working with similar hardware. Carmack later tweeted a photo (https://twitter.com/#!/ID_AA_Carmack/status/174967759216709634/photo/1) of two micro-displays embedded in ski goggles "for better immersion," and id's Matt Hooper tweeted (https://twitter.com/#!/id_Hooper/status/175268956565807104) a picture of Creative Director Tim Willits actually trying them out.
Of course it's a pretty big leap to get from these tweets to actual, active game development for a patented device Microsoft might not even be making. Even if these developers are seriously looking at head-mounted gaming, Sony has its own head-mounted display (http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/news/2011/01/hands-on-sonys-head-mounted-3d-display.ars) about ready to hit store shelves. Companies are trying to revive the idea for virtual reality PC gaming (http://arstechnica.com/gaming/news/2012/03/virtual-reality-that-doesnt-suck-my-time-inside-half-life-2.ars) as well.
But there's some reason to believe Microsoft would benefit more than other platform holders from adding a head-mounted display to its gaming hardware. One of the most limiting factors of playing with motion control technology like the Kinect is that you always have to be facing the screen to know what's going on. This leads to a lot of games where you awkwardly shuffle from side to side rather than actually turning away from the screen, as you would if you were really moving naturally. With a good head-mounted display, this problem could become a thing of the past—as long as your coffee table is well out of the way.
Again, the existence of a patent does not mean Microsoft is actively making this kind of head-mounted display. It doesn't mean the company is even thinking about making it. But we can't help but think about the possibility of Microsoft making a big, "here's something completely different" splash with such a device sometime in the future.
Image courtesy of US Patent and Trademark Office