The Wall Street Journal has received word that Microsoft has been secretly working on VR technology under our noses. Unlike Sony’s or Oculus Rift’s offerings, Microsoft’s headsets are designed to work with Kinect.
We know that Microsoft filed a patent for such a device earlier last year, and they revealed Illumiroom, a new kind of augmented reality technology that was expected to ship with the Xbox One but didn’t make it due to costs.
Beyond that, however, there was that leak from 2012 of a 56 page document that allegedly outlined Microsoft’s battle plan to provide the ultimate media and entertainment hub. Their 8th generation hardware was allegedly to work with augmented reality glasses and second generation motion control technology to provide previously unheard of experiences.
That document was never confirmed or rejected by Microsoft, and nothing similar to what it outlined came to light, until now.
If true, this bolsters Valve’s prediction last Steam Dev Days that consumer VR technology was only one to two years away. It’s also a shot fired against other wearable technology devices, such as Google Glass. Valve may have known all along Sony and Microsoft were both planning on entering this space, and it makes one wonder why Nintendo did not do the same. It’s possible that they either totally had no idea, or they planned their QOL platform with all of it in mind.
In any case, neither Microsoft nor Sony are actually talking about their purported VR offerings yet, so we will have to wait for the few months to play out before we know. It will be an interesting series of months for sure.
