Intel Gets Into VR Hardware Game

Intel Aug. 16 announced it would join the list of companies offering virtual reality hardware beginning next year, with its Project Alloy promising to be an all-in-one solution with a unique combination of “merged reality” platform.

Intel CEO Brian Krzanich unveiled the project during the opening keynote of the company’s 2016 Intel Developer Forum in San Francisco.

Project Alloy doesn’t require a smartphone, a connected computer or cords, with its own built-in computer. “That means you can ‘cut the VR cord,’ allowing a free range of motion with 6 degrees-of-freedom across a large space,” Intel said in a statement.

The system will have built-in collision avoidance technology and will include Intel’s RealSense technology, which combines the ability to see the real world, but gives users the ability to interact with virtual reality items using their hands.

Project Alloy will feature cameras attached to the headset, keeping the system independent, without making the user experience reliant on external sensors or cameras.

Intel said it is working with Microsoft to optimize Windows-based content for the Alloy and will open up its hardware and make available open APIs (application program interfaces) to developers to create their own projects for the headset, beginning next year.