One of the coolest inventions shown at CES was IllumiRoom, a projector technology from Microsoft that would expand the gaming experience beyond the TV. In other words, it would display visuals from the game on the wall around the TV to create an immersive experience.

The original demo released during CES only showed IllumiRoom in action. The new demo goes into the hardware powering IllumiRoom, and explains how the engineers at Microsoft are hoping to revolutionize home entertainment.

At this point in time, IllumiRoom is still very much a prototype. That being said, Microsoft would be stupid to not integrate it into the next Xbox. It has the potential to be the next big innovation in games, especially if games can go beyond expanding the field of view. Some of the examples, like warping reality and realistic snowflakes, could go a long way in increasing immersion in games.

There’s a lot of anxiety in the gaming community today regarding the next Xbox. Many aren’t too keen on having to keep up a constant Internet connection just to play games while others are concerned that Microsoft’s console will block used games. Despite that, IllumiRoom may be one of the few things gamers can overwhelmingly get behind, especially if Microsoft can knock it out of the park with the final hardware.