Metaverse minus the headset: A deeper have a look at Lenovo’s Venture Chronos

As anticipated, there was loads of metaverse-related exercise at CES 2023, with the highest-profile launch being HTC’s new flagship VIVE XR Elite VR/AR headset. There was additionally an intriguing announcement from Lenovo — Project Chronos, a camera-based full physique motion-capture system that means that you can animate an avatar within the metaverse with out the necessity for a headset or different wearable sensors. 

Additionally: Apple’s VR/AR headset is coming. Here’s everything we know so far

Particulars on Venture Chronos, which continues to be very a lot a piece in progress, had been restricted, so ZDNET caught up with Sanjeev Menon, vp and common supervisor of the Desktop Enterprise Phase at Lenovo, through e mail after the present to search out out extra. 

Why do you suppose comparable motion-control applied sciences have failed to achieve widespread traction?   

Pure motion-capture applied sciences are both marker-based utilizing body-tracking sensors or markerless-based utilizing cameras. Deployments of the latter have sometimes been restricted both by complicated setup necessities or poor consumer expertise as a consequence of low accuracy and excessive latency. 

With the fast evolution of {hardware} expertise and AI, Venture Chronos can push the boundaries to allow close to real-time movement seize, permitting new ranges of freedom for individuals to work together and interact inside digital areas. To that finish, we additionally did not need to confine its use to just one state of affairs, however slightly energy a number of use instances throughout completely different facets of shoppers’ lives.  

Whether or not used for content material creation, social gaming, reside broadcasting, health exercises or one thing else fully, the Venture Chronos idea is purpose-built to empower a brand new degree of freedom for many who frequent digital areas or those that wish to new applied sciences to have interaction with others. 

What was the impetus for Lenovo to maneuver wearable-free movement management past gaming and into the metaverse with Venture Chronos?  

With Venture Chronos, we’re creating a brand new gateway to the metaverse for individuals to expertise all sorts of 3D digital areas in a brand new means. Since it’s a wearable-free expertise that mimics one’s pure actions with lifelike avatars, it supplies customers with an unconventional, immersive expertise.  

Whether or not used for digital health, vlogging, gaming, digital walkthrough, etcetera, our idea will allow individuals to seamlessly change between digital worlds, and a wealthy catalog of choices opens the probabilities to quicker consumer adoption. 

Is the shape issue and specification of the Chronos unit finalized, or are additional refinements seemingly?   

We are going to proceed to refine the shape issue and specs primarily based on consumer expertise research. We may also work with content material creators and builders to drive the most effective match to energy the brand new state of affairs experiences. 

Why are there solely DisplayPort and Mini-DisplayPort connections on the present Chronos unit? Why not HDMI, too?   

Because the Venture Chronos base unit is designed to be paired with an exterior show, like a large-format monitor or TV, we plan to supply a number of video connectivity choices together with DisplayPort, Mini-DP and HDMI. Finally, we’ll optimize the I/O ports and specs for the most effective consumer expertise primarily based on consumer insights and market realities. 

Additionally, why is a handheld distant management required? Absolutely any consumer interplay with the Chronos unit could possibly be through gestures… 

By incorporating a handheld distant management with the system, we’re giving customers the choice to change between body-driven management and a extra stationary interplay inside digital environments when most well-liked.

We wish Venture Chronos to be as versatile as doable, in order that it will probably meet a mess of wants and use instances. A distant management supplies the agility, and sometimes comfort, wanted to accommodate that. As we construct out our content material accomplice ecosystem, the distant may also give us extra choices to permit for compatibility throughout a larger variety of apps the place full-body motion could solely be acknowledged in facets of the appliance.

How good is the monitoring of facial features and eye motion in Venture Chronos? Is extra growth wanted right here?  

Venture Chronos can monitor facial expressions together with the consumer’s micro facial features, eye motion, and mouth motion. We have achieved this by means of the adoption of 3D Level Cloud expertise that captures greater than 50+ lively models round an individual’s face. It is a powerful expertise that we’re excited to proceed exploring on this proof-of-concept stage.

Which Venture Chronos use instances are more likely to have most attraction? 

We aren’t positioning Venture Chronos as a gaming resolution at the moment, however see plenty of potential in all its supposed use instances. Nevertheless, I actually suppose individuals who at the moment use motion-capture fits or different wearable gadgets to manage their digital avatars within the VTuber house will gravitate to this expertise due to the liberty it supplies. Venture Chronos will allow these performers and broadcasters to specific themselves by means of physique motion and facial features that hasn’t been doable with out wearable movement sensors of some kind.

Health is one other space that I feel individuals will see its attraction. The power for an individual in Spain, for instance, to take a yoga class with an teacher in Thailand, obtain their quick suggestions on kind and posture, and have the ability to emulate what the teacher is doing as in the event that they’re standing proper in entrance of them is highly effective, particularly when you think about that each people can get pleasure from that have in an attractive digital atmosphere with none extra AR/VR tools weighing them down.

Additionally: Meetings in the metaverse: Our experience with HTC Vive Sync

We additionally see different situations like social chatting or conferences being widespread, the place individuals can leverage Venture Chronos to work together not solely with one another ‘in individual’ within the digital world, however with 3D objects, as properly. So, two architects or product designers might meet up and current their creation as a 3D hologram that they will each see in a extra immersive means, eradicating the limitations of time and house.

What’s going to the Venture Chronos software program ecosystem appear like? Will I have the ability to take my Lenovo avatar right into a digital world created by Meta, Microsoft, Google, HTC, or whoever? The place is Lenovo on the walled backyard/open system continuum? 

The metaverse is evolving at an unbelievable tempo as extra customers and experiences come on-line daily. By merging gaming, media, reside occasions and social media into a brand new type of interactivity that blends digital and bodily, the metaverse is rewriting the principles of the patron financial system.

As such, so too should our expertise evolve to adequately resolve the wants of its customers. To supply our clients the most effective consumer expertise, cross-device and platform collaboration is required within the AR/VR house, simply as it’s in different tech areas, and that is what we’re working towards reaching as we proceed to fulfill with content material creators, builders and repair suppliers to develop on this ecosystem and launch an answer that gives that digital freedom.

The imaginative and prescient we’re creating by means of Venture Chronos is an open 3D ecosystem the place customers can take their full-body avatar to any digital world within the metaverse and have the ability to management it through pure interplay and physique motion with out the necessity for glasses or mocap wearables. That is why we’re positioning Venture Chronos as a gateway to 3D digital worlds, not solely from the {hardware} functionality perspective, but additionally from the open ecosystem perspective.

When will the subsequent iteration of Venture Chronos be demonstrated after CES 2023?   

We’re finalizing future demonstrations of Venture Chronos and can announce the subsequent iteration as soon as it’s accessible.

When will we get a sign of the ultimate product identify, launch date, and pricing? 

The ecosystem continues to be underneath growth, and we’ll announce its remaining identify, launch date, and pricing when it’s additional alongside in its launch preparation.

Lenovo Venture Chronos specs

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