Intel Project Alloy is a new VR solution with its RealSense technology

According to Intel, this will ensure “free range of motion with 6 degrees-of-freedom across a large space.” The headset can also detect collision, and ensures a better virtual experience for the user.

Intel’s focus with Project Alloy is on merged reality, and the headset will let a user see elements from the real world, but also interact with the virtual world via the Intel RealSense technology. To explain it better, the virtual stream will merge with the real world, and a user can interact with both inside the headset, unlike traditional VR headsets where a user can only experience the virtual world.

Intel’s Alloy is not dependent on any external sensors, and has Intel RealSense cameras attached to the headset. Intel says the platform is available to developers, inventors and other companies to make their own headsets using RealSense. Intel has also revealed it is working with Microsoft to optimise Windows-based content and experiences on Intel-based VR devices such as Alloy. The company will open the Alloy hardware and provide open APIs for the ecosystem, allowing developers and partners to create their own branded products.

At the annual Intel Developer Forum (IDF), the company’s CEO Brian Krzanich also revealed a broader outline for the company’s mission on merged reality. According to his post on Medium, “Merged reality delivers virtual-world experiences more dynamically and naturally than ever before,” something that has not been possible till now. A merged reality experience as Intel is pitching it will let users experience the virtual world without relying on too many sensors or wires to set up the headset.

The post further explains, “Merged reality goes beyond computer-generated content. It’s about bringing the real physical world into the digital world real time — and reimagining it with computing power.”

Based on Intel’s announcement, it looks the company wants to eliminate the boundaries between the digital and the real world.