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Intel Project Alloy VR Headsets Could Be in Your Hands by the Beginning of Next Year

Intel Project Alloy VR Headsets Could Be in Your Hands by the Beginning of Next Year

By Rohan Naravane | Updated: 5 January 2017 15:00 IST

Highlights

Project Alloy offers a mix of VR & AR experiences, dubbed ‘merged reality
A prototype was shown off at Intel’s Developer Forum in August 2016
Intel CEO says headsets will hit production by end of the year

At the Intel Developer Forum (IDF) in August 2016, the chipmaker unveiled Project Alloy, which it demonstrated using a standalone ‘merged reality’ headset. It combines Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) into a cohesive experience, like Microsoft’s ‘mixed reality’ concept with its HoloLens. This headset does not require to be plugged into a computer (like Oculus Rift or HTC Vive) or put a phone inside (like Google DayDream or Samsung Gear VR). Instead, it has all the components required to deliver a VR experience and a camera pointing outwards for AR too.

After roughly five months, at CES 2017, Intel CEO Brian Krzanich has announced that Project Alloy will hit production by the end of 2017. As suggested by Engadget, Intel itself will not be making the headset, but will rely on “top OEM partners” to build the wearable. It was also stated that Project Alloy will be open source, so potentially any hardware maker could create it. The report errs on the side of caution with respect to if Project Alloy will truly take off, citing potential conflicts of interest from competing hardware makers.

Either way, Microsoft had extended its support back in August - Project Alloy was said to support software giant’s Windows Holographic Platform. Windows 10 in 2017 was reportedly going to have support for this platform, so that the desktop operating system could be used with head-mounted displays like Intel’s Project Alloy ones and Microsoft’s own HoloLens.

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Further reading: CES, CES 2017, Intel, Project Alloy, Microsoft HoloLens, Mixed Reality, Merged Reality, Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality, Windows 10