Intel unveils Project Alloy, introducing ‘merged reality’

Global Business

Intel unveils Project Alloy, introducing 'merged reality'

Intel has announced yet another virtual reality platform called Merged Reality.

The computer chip maker took the wraps off its secret project at its annual developer conference in San Francisco.

CCTV America’s Mark Niu has the details.

IDF, the biannual Intel Developer’s Forum, kicks off with a virtual display of music.

Using Curie, a tiny computer module that tracks movement, a drummer doesn’t need actual drums, and a musician can play a virtual piano and cello at the same time.

But Intel unveils something that blends the lines of reality even further- Project Alloy. It’s 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’re going to bump into real people or objects.

Bob O’Donnell, chief analyst at TECHnalysis Research, admits that 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,” O’Donnell said. “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.”

Intel said Project Alloy will be available to its partners in the second half of 2017. So it’s not going to be in the hands of consumers until at least 2018 or later. And there’s 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 said 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. A gamified toothbrush has been invented to allow 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.