Intel kills "Project Alloy" VR Headset

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FIVR

FIVR

Diamond Member
Jun 1, 2016
3,753
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File this under "Spaghetti on the floor, formerly on the wall" I suppose. I'm not sure what they were thinking here.

https://www.engadget.com/2017/09/22/intel-kills-project-alloy-vr-headset/

Intel won't be releasing its Project Alloy VR headset platform anytime this year -- in fact, it won't be releasing the technology at all. The tech giant has officially killed the initiative, which aimed to provide partner companies an open reference design for their own standalone VR devices. Intel was supposed to launch the platform this year, but according to RoadtoVR, it has decided to abandon the project this summer due to lack of partner interest.

The company didn't elaborate on why there's a lack of interest, but it could be because manufacturers, including Asus, Acer and Dell, chose to focus their resources on building Microsoft Mixed Reality headsets. Kim Pallister, Intel's Virtual Reality Center of Excellence director, has also revealed another possible reason in his interview with PC World. He said the company realized that a standalone headset "isn't necessarily the optimum form factor" and can't compete with the performance of PC-powered devices.

Instead of going forward with Project Alloy, Intel will focus on developing a WiGig link to enable wireless PC-powered VR headsets, as well as on making other VR-related technologies. It told RoadtoVR in a statement:

"Intel has made the decision to wind down its Project Alloy reference design, however we will continue to invest in the development of technologies to power next-generation AR/VR experiences. This includes: Movidius for visual processing, Intel RealSense™ depth sensing and six degrees of freedom (6DoF) solutions, and other enabling technologies including Intel WiGig, Thunderbolt, and Intel Optane™. All of these Intel technology solutions are supported by a robust portfolio of software capabilities, and we're building out a VR support ecosystem, from software design kits to reference designs, to spur innovation that's enabling rich and immersive content. Project Alloy served as a great proof of concept for Intel and the industry – showing what's possible in a high-performance, immersive and untethered VR experience. What we've learned through Project Alloy will inform future efforts."

The company has also been shifted its focus to VR content recently. Just this March, it snapped up Replay Technologies, which is known for creating 360-degree video replays for the NBA.
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LTC8K6

LTC8K6

Lifer
Mar 10, 2004
28,520
1,576
126
I still can't believe people are going to be wearing those ridiculous things on their head.
 
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LTC8K6

LTC8K6

Lifer
Mar 10, 2004
28,520
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pj- said:
Are you afraid of being called a nerd?
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I wear glasses and have been deep into electronics nearly from birth, so it's a little late to be afraid of that.

I would never wear an alternate reality device on my head, though.

I prefer reality and hate it when I leave it.
 
tamz_msc

tamz_msc

Diamond Member
Jan 5, 2017
3,865
3,730
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Sim racing is the only thing that makes VR worth it at the moment. Everything else is mostly meh.
 
G

Guru

Senior member
May 5, 2017
830
361
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Don't get VR, never will. Instead of gaming of a 27+ inch 90hz+ monitor and the precision of keyboard and mouse, you are investing $300+, more like $400+ to wear a monitor on your head and play crappy ass VR games with no precision at all.

The mouse and monitor hand and eye coordination is the best gaming platform by far, until we can directly move stuff by thinking it, there won't be anything better.

Again for $300-500 that I would pay for VR headset I would get myself a really good monitor, around 90hz, depending on price even better.

The only good game for VR anyways is startrek commander or crew or whatever the name was of that new Startrek game in which you can play with up to 4 of your friends and each one has a designated role and all need to coordinate and play together to beat the missions. The only worthwhile VR game!
 
P

pj-

Senior member
May 5, 2015
501
278
136
Guru said:
Don't get VR, never will. Instead of gaming of a 27+ inch 90hz+ monitor and the precision of keyboard and mouse, you are investing $300+, more like $400+ to wear a monitor on your head and play crappy ass VR games with no precision at all.

The mouse and monitor hand and eye coordination is the best gaming platform by far, until we can directly move stuff by thinking it, there won't be anything better.

Again for $300-500 that I would pay for VR headset I would get myself a really good monitor, around 90hz, depending on price even better.

The only good game for VR anyways is startrek commander or crew or whatever the name was of that new Startrek game in which you can play with up to 4 of your friends and each one has a designated role and all need to coordinate and play together to beat the missions. The only worthwhile VR game!
Click to expand...

What does precision have to do with fun? It's 100 times more fun to shoot a real gun and barely hit a paper target 100 yards away than it is to pop another player's head off from half a mile away in a videogame. Space Pirate Trainer and Rec Room paintball are more intense to me than a close match in Battlefield 1.

As an early adopter, I've invested over $1000 into VR (about to be another $300 when wireless is available) and it's given me way more fun than the $800 monitor I have.
 
T

tommo123

Platinum Member
Sep 25, 2005
2,617
48
91
Guru said:
Don't get VR, never will. Instead of gaming of a 27+ inch 90hz+ monitor and the precision of keyboard and mouse, you are investing $300+, more like $400+ to wear a monitor on your head and play crappy ass VR games with no precision at all.

The mouse and monitor hand and eye coordination is the best gaming platform by far, until we can directly move stuff by thinking it, there won't be anything better.

Again for $300-500 that I would pay for VR headset I would get myself a really good monitor, around 90hz, depending on price even better.

The only good game for VR anyways is startrek commander or crew or whatever the name was of that new Startrek game in which you can play with up to 4 of your friends and each one has a designated role and all need to coordinate and play together to beat the missions. The only worthwhile VR game!
Click to expand...

the VR is your monitor. i've watched movies on my VR headset and it's better than IMAX as it completely fills your FOV. the only downside is PPI and refresh rate but they can be overcome. a VR headset connected to your PC working as a 2nd monitor would be the same but could be customised into the equivalent of a massive 16:9 or 2 or even 3 of them for a wide FOV.

i have a projector and only use it when people are over.
 
Sonikku

Sonikku

Lifer
Jun 23, 2005
15,899
4,922
136
It will only be weird for a few years. Then the weird guy will be the one without it.

man-was-caught-watching-the-real-world-others-looking-at-their-phones.jpg
 
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mrblotto

mrblotto

Golden Member
Jul 7, 2007
1,639
117
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AdamK47 said:
Intel was a bit too late to this industry fad party.
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Intel did the same thing when it bought Offset Software way back in '07/'08 I think. They were gonna showcase their Larabee-architecture GPU's. Nothing came of that as well........

Kind of wish they would have. I remember waiting for P.O to come out :(

Poor quality video follows

 
Q

Qwertilot

Golden Member
Nov 28, 2013
1,604
257
126
Some of us still read books instead :)

I can't see VR actually in/on public transport quite catching on. Security & honestly the simple danger of walking into things is fairly huge. Obviously it'll get used a fair bit when sitting in self driving cars & stuff.

It should also, you imagine, actually significantly reduce the need for physical commuting. Both for leisure travel, work, and perhaps most significantly shopping.

Once we get the ability to feed in realistic scans of ourselves/homes etc you can see how it'll make things like furniture showrooms, or even clothes shops, really very specialised.
 
P

pj-

Senior member
May 5, 2015
501
278
136
tential said:
Are you ready for a train full of people ALL wearing VR headsets commuting?
This is about to get real weird soon. I can't wait to see it from an observer standpoint.
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I don't think that will happen until VR/AR goggles have the same form factor as sunglasses. Could be a long way off.
 
LTC8K6

LTC8K6

Lifer
Mar 10, 2004
28,520
1,576
126
A car jumping the curb, a cliff, an open sewer cover, etc.

You can really substitute "something he needs to pay attention to" for danger, though.
 
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