Microsoft Recordsdata a Patent For a VR Mat That May Be Used With an Xbox
Microsoft/United States Patent and Trademark Workplace
Microsoft has not too long ago filed a patent for a digital actuality flooring mat and essentially the most intriguing side is the patent’s suggestion that that flooring mat may very well be used with a gaming console just like the Xbox.
The patent, which was filed by Microsoft on April 2, 2018 and revealed final week on Thursday, October three, is for what the expertise firm refers to as a “digital actuality flooring mat exercise area.” As Selection notes, whereas using flooring mats in digital actuality isn’t a brand new idea, Microsoft’s patent signifies that its flooring mat could have extra options than simply merely offering a manner to assist VR players keep throughout the security of their designated play areas.
Such further options embody using fiducial markers, the inclusion of haptic suggestions (vibration), using interlocking tiles to permit for an adjustable play area, and the addition of strain sensors. The fiducial markers are meant to assist a given VR headset detect the ground mat after which “selectively increase a digital actuality expertise primarily based on the positioning of the bodily topic recognized relative to the exercise area.”
The mat can also embody a haptic suggestions characteristic that comes with vibrations: “A haptic notification could also be output through a vibration gadget of an HMD [head-mounted display] or different gadget carried by the person, or through a vibration gadget built-in into the digital actuality mat. As beforehand described, the mat could embody a number of built-in vibration gadgets to generate vibration on the mat which may be perceived by the person to reinforce the digital actuality expertise.”
The patent additionally included diagrams that indicated that the ground mat (and the play area) may very well be adjustable with using interlocking tiles that may be moved round to suit totally different configurations. As well as, Microsoft additionally talked about the combination of strain sensors in its flooring mat, “in at the very least some implementations.” The strain sensors can be meant to “to detect a bodily strain or pressure utilized to an exercise floor of the mat” and “allow the digital actuality system to determine the place the person is standing in relation to the mat, with out essentially requiring that the person be visually detected by an optical sensor.”
As Gizmodo factors out, whereas Microsoft’s patent does point out a laundry record of computing gadgets that may very well be used with the ground mat, the clear standout among the many proposed makes use of is the mat’s attainable use in gaming, particularly with Microsoft’s movement sensor Kinect (which was typically paired with its Xbox One and 360 gaming consoles). The truth is, the primary diagram included within the patent (see above) exhibits a lounge setting with an individual carrying a VR headset enjoying in entrance of a big tv or show monitor with what seems to be a tool that appears quite a bit like a Kinect sitting on prime. It’s price mentioning although, that although the patent mentions using a “gaming console” it additionally doesn’t point out the phrases “Xbox” or “Kinect” both. So we’ll simply have to attend and see how this VR flooring mat is used, if in any respect, in gaming.
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