Is Illumiroom the Next Xbox’s secret weapon?

Microsoft’s Illumiroom technology could be one of the platform holder’s key drivers behind its new Xbox.

As MCV reported in January following the tech’s unveiling at CES, Illumiroom uses a system that harks back to the old Philips amBX tech, but evolves it far beyond anything seen before. A projector is used to extend visual cues from the game beyond the edges of the TV display to the walls of the room in which the user is playing.

It was at the time pitched as a proof of concept” system The Verge reports that Illumiroom is now being described by Microsoft as a next-generation gaming console with a projector that sits on your coffee table and surrounds your television with projected light”.

As seen in the video below, the tech offers a broad array of tools and possibilities for developers including the stretching of the game screen to cover an entire wall, the ability to distort to appearance of the playing space itself, the illusion of objects travelling beyond the confines of the screen or flashier visual augmentations drawing on only select in-game elements (such as gun fire or explosions).

Note that Illumiroon requires both a forward facing projector directed toward the screen and Kinect, meaning that to play a Kinect game using the technology could conceivably require two Kinect cameras.

With Microsoft remaining deadly silent about its next Xbox, Illumiroom’s likely inclusion with the new Xbox is nothing more than a guessing game for the time being.

All will (possibly) be revealed at Microsoft’s Next Xbox showcase on May 21st.