The Gadget Show Live, April 2013: Technology in the UK
by Ian Cutress on April 4, 2013 6:30 AM EST- Posted in
- Trade Shows
- UK
- Gadget Show
I hope I am right in saying that most of us have been to that one ‘ride’ in a theme park or museum, that attempts to emulate a roller coaster or a car ride, with images on every wall along with the sensation of wind in the hair. The IglooVision concept is almost similar to this, except you are in a large igloo shaped dome with a PC and a first person shooter game.
In the marketing video above (much better than any one I took at the event), the gamer sits with a keyboard and mouse to enjoy the experience. The version igloo had on display at GSL was a little different.
Let me set the scene – you are holding a gun like device with a sensor on it, and are standing in the middle of the igloo with a large field of vision screen showing Crysis 3. There is an analog stick on the gun to strafe, but where you point the gun is where the screen will be looking.
The system uses five projection screens in the roof of the tent to broadcast the image you see, and anything outside the field of vision is black (otherwise you could look behind instantly). If you turn 10 degrees in a direction, the system responds by moving the image around the inside of the tent and you are facing the new direction. It sounds and looks amazing at first, with the minor downside that actually you are just rotating in a small tent.
The hardware under the system is actually quite interesting from our point of view. The part which makes the IglooVision system theirs is the depth at which they integrate the system in to the rendering pipeline. So on the base of it all is a system powered by an AMD Eyefinity card that outputs the image to five Mac Minis. The Mac Mini’s have information about where the gun is pointing, and calculate how much of the original rendered image has to be shown on its projector. The other difficult part of the equation is making the game recognize the difference between strafing and turning with the new input methods.
Obviously this is all still very early prototype stuff. Ideally Igloovision would have it all minimized into one PC to power the five projectors, and make it work on any title possible. I was told that the bulk of their code deals with OpenGL, but due to recent media coverage in the UK, NVIDIA have had interest and the company is dealing with NVIDIA and APIs under NDA to help improve the system.
My critiques came in a few parts – one was the resolution/quality (the overall output was only 720p), second was the frame rate which was around 20-25 FPS, and the third was the lag. Much like the problems Oculus has with head turning, IglooVision has the same here, and there was a noticeable lag in the system. Talking to one of the team at the event, the fact it was an early prototype was repeated often enough that they know it is an area to work on!
IglooVision itself have marketed this technology for entertainment other than games, such as at Festivals or corporate events to promote products (with and without the motion sensing). The company has 8 full time staff, and was initially funded through independent investors. They have sold their system to at least one client, and as such are feeling the pressure of deadlines! While the system overall is not one for the home, I can see use at LANs in terms of the gaming market. Good luck to them, I would love to see it finished. This is essentially what we should have had with the Wii on day one!
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MarkSear - Thursday, April 4, 2013 - link
I'm from the UK - moved to Toronto in Canada a year a go almost to the day. I love the Gadget Show and still watch it through 5 OnDemand (UK TV Channel) over a VPN connection.Seriously though - please correct the facts about the UK?
Movies are available to buy on Blu-ray / download / rent on demand 3 months after release. Often movies are released in theatres before the US and Canada.
As for product releases being delayed in the UK - erm BlackBerry Z10, Samsung S3 / S4, a whole plethora of motor vehicles, TV shows etc...
20 % VAT on goods - yes, but you're not a UK resident I presume - so you're exempt.
As for complex stuff - the EU is a single market - you even have the advantage often of buying good in Euro's - fair's fair now - there's a good chap!
Tams80 - Thursday, April 4, 2013 - link
True, but you can't really complain about the TV shows. The ones your referring to will be British made/commissioned ones and therefore unsurprisingly will be released in the UK first. Although it has got better, we do still have to wait for US TV shows to cross the imaginary Internet ocean (of course the same applies for out TV shows). Don't get me started on anime though!We also don't get some technology products at all and they are often more expensive even when you take in to account VAT.
Death666Angel - Thursday, April 4, 2013 - link
"yes, but you're not a UK resident I presume - so you're exempt."Dr. Ian Cutress is very much a resident of the UK. Unless I've been misled by the podcasts and his reviews all this time. :)
IanCutress - Friday, April 5, 2013 - link
Dear Mark,I am very much British and live in London, having lived in the north, south, east and west of this green and pleasant land.
There has been in the past delays of certain titles and products from NA to the UK/EU - for example a big film like Charlie and The Chocolate Factory (2005) was released 10-Jul-05 in the US and 29-Jul-05 in the UK. This is more common than you may realise, and up to 3-6 months does occur.
Yes, you can go buy in Euros, on the basis that you have to pay to change GBP to EUR (commission or bad rates), then extra for company X to ship it to you, then import tax (20%) to get it across the border. So unless it is 25%+ cheaper in continental Europe, you are still paying through the nose. They closed the loophole regarding Jersey and Guernsey recently, so even 'importing' from there is now subject to import tax.
I know my country, I was blooming born and raised here mate! :)
Ian
Kristian Vättö - Friday, April 5, 2013 - link
You don't have to pay the import tax if you're buying from another EU-country.smilingcrow - Saturday, April 6, 2013 - link
Exactly, no import duty or VAT.Import tax varies depending on the category so is not a fixed 20%.
poohbear - Thursday, April 4, 2013 - link
lol how in the hell is that igloo house a gadget????poohbear - Thursday, April 4, 2013 - link
its like going to a car show and seeing trucks and planes! who comes up with this stuff?evonitzer - Thursday, April 4, 2013 - link
How many products at CES could be called 'consumer electronics'? It really doesn't matter since the show is about displaying interesting things whether or not they are actually feasible for the general consumer.I can't believe people are griping about the igloo! That looks fantastic and I want it for my home.
nerd1 - Thursday, April 4, 2013 - link
Nao humanoid robots are made by a french company :-)