Metaverse minus the headset: A deeper look at Lenovo’s Project 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 permits you to 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 Undertaking 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 Section at Lenovo, by way of e-mail after the present to seek out out extra. 

Why do you assume related motion-control applied sciences have failed to realize 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 advanced setup necessities or poor consumer expertise because of low accuracy and excessive latency. 

With the fast evolution of {hardware} expertise and AI, Undertaking 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 relatively energy a number of use instances throughout totally 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 Undertaking Chronos idea is purpose-built to empower a brand new stage of freedom for individuals who frequent digital areas or those that need to new applied sciences to interact with others. 

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

With Undertaking Chronos, we’re creating a brand new gateway to the metaverse for individuals to expertise all kinds of 3D digital areas in a brand new manner. 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 swap between digital worlds, and a wealthy catalog of choices opens the probabilities to sooner consumer adoption. 

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

We’ll proceed to refine the shape issue and specs based mostly on consumer expertise research. We will even work with content material creators and builders to drive the very best 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 Undertaking Chronos base unit is designed to be paired with an exterior show, like a large-format monitor or TV, we plan to offer 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 very best consumer expertise based mostly on consumer insights and market realities. 

Additionally, why is a handheld distant management required? Absolutely any consumer interplay with the Chronos unit may very well be by way of gestures… 

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

We wish Undertaking Chronos to be as versatile as potential, in order that it could possibly 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 will even 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 applying.

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

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

Which Undertaking Chronos use instances are more likely to have most enchantment? 

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

Health is one other space that I feel individuals will see its enchantment. The power for an individual in Spain, for instance, to take a yoga class with an teacher in Thailand, obtain their instant suggestions on type and posture, and have the ability to emulate what the trainer 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 a good looking digital surroundings with none extra AR/VR gear weighing them down.

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

We additionally see different eventualities like social chatting or conferences being common, the place individuals can leverage Undertaking Chronos to work together not solely with one another ‘in particular person’ within the digital world, however with 3D objects, as properly. So, two architects or product designers may meet up and current their creation as a 3D hologram that they’ll each see in a extra immersive manner, eradicating the boundaries of time and house.

What is going to the Undertaking Chronos software program ecosystem seem 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 unimaginable tempo as extra customers and experiences come on-line on daily basis. 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 buyer economic system.

As such, so too should our expertise evolve to adequately resolve the wants of its customers. To supply our prospects the very best 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 attaining as we proceed to fulfill with content material creators, builders and repair suppliers to increase on this ecosystem and launch an answer that provides that digital freedom.

The imaginative and prescient we’re creating by Undertaking 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 by way of pure interplay and physique motion with out the necessity for glasses or mocap wearables. That is why we’re positioning Undertaking Chronos as a gateway to 3D digital worlds, not solely from the {hardware} functionality perspective, but in addition from the open ecosystem perspective.

When will the following iteration of Undertaking Chronos be demonstrated after CES 2023?   

We’re finalizing future demonstrations of Undertaking Chronos and can announce the following 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 improvement, and we’ll announce its ultimate identify, launch date, and pricing when it’s additional alongside in its launch preparation.

Lenovo Undertaking Chronos specs

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