Awesome. Though if the patent is true it needs a camera and Emily says no camera (but it could've simply not been in the dev kit). Then again I always kept open the possibility that it was a controlled leak to Emily, and the real twist was still kept under wraps.
I think the truth is right in front of us. If not projection it's definitely AR.
The Nintendo Slate.
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Nintendo Patents Projector That Displays Flat Images On Uneven Surfaces
- Thread starter Serenitynow
- Start date
Sky Interloper
Member
Interesting tech.
I don't know how expensive it would be to include this into the NX (I know small projectors like that one in the Lenovo tablet are a thing, but I lack knowledge of its economy of scale), but it may be an interesting play on the display requirements for the console.
But as with many Nintendo patents, it may not come to fruition in a comercial sense right now.
I don't know how expensive it would be to include this into the NX (I know small projectors like that one in the Lenovo tablet are a thing, but I lack knowledge of its economy of scale), but it may be an interesting play on the display requirements for the console.
But as with many Nintendo patents, it may not come to fruition in a comercial sense right now.
ZAMtendo
Obliterating everything that's not your friend
No camera?
If that's the case then I would hope it's projector (get ready for the high price though!).A controlled leak sounds plausible, I hope it's the case!
justsomeguy
Member
Unless the projector is lit with the power of a thousand suns you wouldn't see a thing in daylight.
ZAMtendo
Obliterating everything that's not your friend
Oh and I failed to mention, THIS. Link uses the Slate as a scanner of sorts (which makes me believe it's AR).
https://youtu.be/NIrY56yg7dY?t=4m30s
https://youtu.be/NIrY56yg7dY?t=4m30s
Wowfunhappy
Member
I wish my projector had this.
Wowfunhappy
Member
It's theoretically doable if you don't mind a smaller image.
Probably not with a pico projector though.
"Before booting up the projector, shut your eyes and think about the Wii U..."
It's worth keeping in mind that the system can only correct the image as viewed from a single angle, so if you wanted to use something like this for multiplayer you'd be out of luck unless you're all squeezed in right next to each other. It also requires a camera at that viewing location (i.e. where the player would be) in order to calculate the corrections, so it's not going to be a magic "drop down your NX pico projector and there you go" solution. It could make sense as part of an AR system if the user is wearing some kind of headgear that a camera could be strapped to, and if you adjust the in-game camera angle in response to the player's movements too you could get a kind of poor-man's hololens effect from it.
I'd firmly put this in the category of "exploratory R&D" Nintendo patents rather than "actually going to be in a product" Nintendo patents, though.
I'd firmly put this in the category of "exploratory R&D" Nintendo patents rather than "actually going to be in a product" Nintendo patents, though.
Not at first, but a couple of years down the line they could sell a projector base.
Monocle
Member
Aww yes!
Maybe the projection part is meant for one person. Or maybe it comes with an independent eye tracker like the 3DS cam which could support additional viewing angles.
FunkyDealer
Banned
Part of me wants to imagine all these patents, leaks and such are part of a very elaborate PR strategy to keep people interested and guessing, until the final product is unveiled. Which could be completely different, just to mess with people.
Doesn't make sense to me. If the projection area isn't flat*, the result is good only for a SINGLE point of view.
And that doesn't even work that well depending on the materials/colors of the surfaces used.
* actually, it isn't perfect even if it's flat, since you'll have trapezoïdal deformations, but it's not as bad, by far.
Patents are definitely not a PR thing.
Herbspiceguy
Member
This tech seems perfect for the local co-op on the go they're pushing in the Switch video.
Since everyone is looking at the screen instead of projections: I wonder what happened, ended up being too costly for main SKU? Maybe it will become an add-on?
Since everyone is looking at the screen instead of projections: I wonder what happened, ended up being too costly for main SKU? Maybe it will become an add-on?