Intel revealed at their CES 2017 press conference that Project Alloy, their standalone mixed reality headset and reference platform, would be productized “by” Q4 2017 in partnership with major OEMs.
Intel also emphasized that they would partner with anyone who wants to manufacture a Project Alloy headset, as they want it to be an open platform. Additionally, the company showed a new demo of the hardware, as well as a slew of possible uses that they’re helping to make possible for both their platform and others like the Rift and Vive.
At the press conference, Intel had 250 Oculus Rift stations which they used to show attendees the experiences they aimed to make possible in the future.
The examples they showed off ranged from Arizona Sunshine (2016), to live sports streaming in stereo 360 with Voke (whom Intel acquired last year) to volumetric 360 recordings of a waterfall in Vietnam that users could move around in (with each frame consisting 30 GB in data), as well as a real time inspection of solar panels with 360 camera capture from a drone, of course all powered by Intel. The company announced that the Voke live VR video streaming platform at least would see a release on the Rift and Vive later this year, while it’s already out on Gear VR.
The press conference continued with Intel demonstrating a multiplayer gaming session with Project Alloy that incorporated motion controls as well as a scanned model of the real environment that would be used to mold the virtual environment.
They made sure to emphasize that they were playing without wires and seamlessly mixing in more or less physical elements from the real world into the game, as the wall faded away so that it would just be open sky, and the couches could transform and be used as cover, appearing as a typical game props. They called it “merged reality”, a term the company has been trying to coin since debuting the headset since August.