In 2012, Microsoft Research lifted the wraps off its experimental "Illumiroom" project, which promised to extend game and computer imagery far beyond the limits of a TV screen. Its 2013 demo video is absolutely worth watching, but in case you forgot it, entire walls could be coated in lights or imagery that matched up with a video game—and all users needed was, you know, an expensive, all-encompassing projector.
As a result, the project has yet to surface in a consumer-level manner, but its simpler, immersive promise has already been fulfilled by game modders who have found an alternate path to game-synced lighting: Philips Hue. With that Wi-Fi-enhanced lighting system, games and apps can control your lights' intensity and color, whether in a smarthome-styled, "turn them on when I get home" capacity or, in the case of unofficial Minecraft mods, change a home's bulb colors to reflect the current game world.
Those Minecraft mods have only offered general color-sweep bulb updates, meaning that Wednesday's announcement of official Hue integration in a video game is a little more meaningful. The indie co-op puzzle game Chariot now includes a Philips Hue setting in its Xbox One version, meaning the game can take control of however many Hue-compatible bulbs are live in your home and adjust their colors and intensity on the fly. In addition to general color changes for new zones, the game will also send explosive effects across your bulb network when appropriate.
Read 2 remaining paragraphs | Comments
No comments:
Post a Comment