Last year we had spoken of Illumiroom , an interesting research project from Microsoft that used the Kinect to map the 3D profile of the wall which houses our TV along with a projector that extends "beyond the screen" the images displayed by the games. Now Microsoft Research has revealed a new project, the character more "rotund" and interactive, titled RoomAlive .

RoomAlive uses a technology similar to that of Illumiroom but it does so using an array of cameras and multiple Kinect for 360° to cover an entire room, which thus becomes a real interactive environment similar to the famous Star Trek holodeck, which connected to an Xbox allows us to immerse ourselves in virtual scenarios and take part in games or other activities. Obviously this is a research project which for now has no pretensions to become a real product, given the high cost of the equipment involved, but it's still interesting to see some of the directions toward which move the r & d departments of companies involved in interactive entertainment. We offer a free trial below.