Intel’s Project Alloy: A Mobile VR Headset With ‘Mutli-Room’ Positional Tracking

Revealed at its Intel’s developer conference today, the “merged reality” device – dubbed “Project Alloy” – has a key advantage over other headsets in that it allows users to see their own hands, and use them to interact with objects in the game.

Intel’s virtual reality headset, Project Alloy, is expected to launch in 2017 and boasts “merged reality” technology, which lets users see and use their hands in the virtual world.

Powered by Intel’s RealSense cameras, Krzanich touted Project Alloy’s ability to recognize its surrounding environment without external sensors or controllers.

As for why Intel is pushing so hard to power obscure and mostly experimental devices, it all comes back to its chip making roots.

Earlier today Intel showed off a virtual reality headset that doesn’t have any pesky cords. They can also expedite the same to create their own branded projects using Alloy. Just don’t try to walk anywhere – that VR headset is likely tethered to a PC limiting your movements to a confined area.

In addition to the headset, Intel also plans to open a production studio in Los Angeles to create content for virtual reality. For now, it’s just Intel formally throwing its hat into an ever-growing ring of virtual and augmented reality players. Besides eliminating the need for dedicated tracking sensors, RealSense can display real-world objects-like your hands or a person standing in front of you-in the virtual world. It looks like Intel is continuing to move away with the traditional desktop PC and is focusing on IoT, VR and datacenter solutions.

You know what takes a lot of computing power?

That’s the theory, anyhow; in practice, this feature seems like it needs more fine tuning based on Intel’s Project Alloy demo. “We can flip that, and take the virtual world into the real world”, he said.

At IDF, the chip-maker will highlight virtual reality, IoT, and machine learning.

The system offers real-time tracking, and 100 percent coverage, all in the background while other tasks are being completed by the workers without any action required on their part. It is slated to be available on all mainstream Windows 10 PCs next year.