2016 might be the year virtual reality launched, but a lot of gamers have decided to wait before getting on board. And with good reason: VR is bloody expensive, and the upgrades needed to power it aren’t exactly pocket change.
So in reality, it might be more practical to say that 2017 will be the year of VR. And if you’re in the camp of people who will be waiting 12 months before making an investment, there’s a new competitor: Intel.
The chip manufacturer announced Project Alloy at the Intel Developer Forum this morning. It’s a cordless VR headset built on Intel’s RealSense cameras and sensors, which work in tandem to continually map the user and their surroundings.
Project Alloy will be an open source platform when its released next year, although Intel’s page says the company is “collaborating with Microsoft to optimise Windows-based content and experiences on Intel-based VR devices”.
YouTuber Anshel Sag got up close and personal with a display model:
Wonder how long it’ll be before Intel Minecraft becomes a thing. Three to six months, perhaps?
Comments
4 responses to “Virtual Reality Just Got A New Player: Intel”
Everyone i know is waiting on someone else to take the plunge. At the moment it is just too expensive for something that might just make me vomit. the PS4VR thing might be where I jump in.
New PC comes before VR. My 5yr old PC is in desperate need of an upgrade…I might have the cash for that in, oh maybe another 5 years time…
I’m going to jump in with Google Daydream and see where that goes. New phone will be coming in a few months so I’ll be getting something that can handle that.
I was going to get the vive, eventually I decided that I want a more future proof hmd, with a wider fov, better quality screens, and for all the kinks to be worked out. I just really hope the VR-fad doesn’t die before then.
It’s more important now than ever for VR headset makers to start settling on a common API before the market gets too fragmented. I worry that next year people who decide to start looking into buying a headset will be faced with either spending thousands of dollars for multiple headsets or being excluded from large amounts of content because it’s not compatible with their headset.