英特尔推出独立虚拟现实头盔

Intel has unveiled its newest virtual reality headset called “Project Alloy.” Through this gadget, the company introduces the concept of “merged reality.”

The biannual Intel Developer’s Forum began with a virtual display of music. Using Curie, a tiny computer module that tracks movement, a drummer does not need actual drums and a musician can play a virtual piano and cello at the same time.

But Intel unveiled something that blends the lines of reality even further: Project Alloy. It is called Merged Reality and it takes away the headset cord and eliminates the need for handheld controllers. Instead, you use your real hands in the virtual world. Alloy warns you if you are going to bump into real people or objects.

“Not only move around freely in the virtual world. But he was able to bring the real world into that virtual world where he used his hand or dollar to interact. We can do that with almost any object. And we can flip that. We can take the virtual world into the real world,” Intel CEO Brian Krzanich said.

“Now frankly it’s a little confusing to have yet another term. We’ve got augmented reality, virtual reality Microsoft talks about mixed reality. Now we have ‘merged’ reality. But the idea of what Intel did is interesting, because what they are doing is taking a traditional virtual reality environment and now you can actually see your hands and see some nearby objects,” Bob O'Donnell, chief analyst with Technalysis Research, said.

Intel says Project Alloy will be available to its partners in the second half of 2017. So it is not going to be in the hands of consumers until at least 2018 or later. No word on what it will cost.

The realities of autonomous driving also took center stage when Intel brought out BMW executive Elmar Frickenstein in a self-driving car. Despite recent accidents with Tesla cars on autopilot, Frickenstein says 2021 is the year people will be able to safely go to sleep while their vehicle drives on its own.

Ideas from smaller developers are also a big part of the event, like the winner of Intel’s Greatest Makers TV show. The gamified toothbrush allows dentists to track how well patients are brushing, and even put monsters in those trouble spots so kids can be sure to brush them away.