The concept of virtual reality headsets has long been touted as a computer that you wear on your face. However, what if there was a headset that had all the components of an all-in-one PC and didn't require being tethered to a separate computer? This is exactly what Intel is pushing with Project Alloy, their new prototype design for merged reality experiences.

Project Alloy is not a headset that Intel plans to sell directly to consumers. Instead, it's a prototype designed to show potential hardware partners what's possible. The device has a bunch of processors and Intel's real sense camera built directly into it, which means you don't need to be tethered to anything to use it. Although it could work that way too.

The mobility of Project Alloy, along with the concept of merged reality, are what's supposed to set it apart from other virtual reality headsets. Merged reality means that you can bring real-world objects into a virtual environment and then make them virtual too. You can also see other people in the room in your virtual world, which is both bizarre and cool.

This type of experience falls somewhere in between augmented reality, where you see all of the real world with a layer of computing over it, and virtual reality, where you're entirely in a virtual world. For example, while we were shooting this video, I found myself in a completely virtual environment but one where I could still see my colleagues and other people in the lab. I could use physical objects to play a virtual game if someone handed me a piece of paper and pen. I could even check the time on a real physical watch or take a selfie while wearing the headset.

This approach is arguably safer than traditional VR headsets because you're not blocking out everything around you, which means you're less likely to walk into something. It also means that you don't need complex sensors or fancy hand controllers to have a more interactive experience.

The model we tried was only version one of Project Alloy, and it was pretty clunky. Honestly, it didn't fit all that well, and even though Intel says that in an ideal world, Project Alloy headsets won't weigh more than around 1-2 lbs, some of the real-world objects that appeared in our virtual world were pixelated and difficult to see.

However, Intel is working on updating Project Alloy with better internals and a sleeker design. The new headset will have the newer Intel Core processor KB Lake, an improved computer vision chip from Midus, and the option for a discrete graphics card. These upgrades should provide even more powerful performance and a smoother user experience.

Intel also has a series of dedicated labs set up in their offices where they're constantly testing things like latency, which is how many milliseconds it takes for real-world stuff to show up in your computerized world. This will be crucial in determining the usability of Project Alloy and ensuring that users don't get frustrated with lag or other issues.

So far, only Microsoft has publicly committed to working with Intel on this project, but Intel hopes that Project Alloy is intriguing enough that other companies will want to jump on board as well. Right now, VR experiences are all over the place – some are super simple and can be achieved by just throwing your phone in a piece of cardboard or even a cloth headset, while others require tethering to some sort of computer system.

Intel is hoping to strike a balance between something that offers mobility and something that's powerful, which has been really difficult to achieve so far. But in an alternate reality, anything is possible, and it will be exciting to see where Project Alloy takes us.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: envirtual reality headsets are sometimes described as a computer that you wear on your face which is not entirely untrue but what if there was a virtual reality headset that had all the components of an all-in-one PC and you didn't have to be Tethered to a separate computer that's what Intel is pushing with project alloy its new prototype design for merged reality experiences now this isn't a headset that Intel is going to sell directly to Consumers but instead it plans to partner with companies like Microsoft to create a headset that it thinks is going to offer a unique experience I don't know about you but I could use a little break from actual reality lately so we went down to Intel's headquarters in Santa Clara to try on Project alloy and find out a little bit more about what merged reality is supposed to be this is Project alloy it's a prototype headset that Intel has built to show potential Hardware Partners what it's capable of it has a bunch of processors and Intel's really sense camera is built directly into it and it runs on a battery so you don't have to be Tethered to anything although it could work that way too the mobility of project alloy along with this concept of merged reality are really what's supposed to set it apart merged reality means that you can bring Real World objects into a virtual environment and then make them virtual too you can also see other people in the room in your virtual world it's kind of bizarre and cool and disorienting if Microsoft's Hollow lens is all about a augmented reality meaning you can see all of the real world with a layer of computing over it an Oculus Rift is all about virtual reality meaning your entirely in a virtual world just lies in this crazy place in between so for example while we were shooting this video I found myself in a completely virtual environment but one where I could still see my Verge colleagues and the other people in the lab I could use physical objects to play a virtual game if someone handed me a piece of paper and Pen I could still see well enough to write a note with it while I had the VR headset on I could even check the time on a real physical watch or take a selfie while I was wearing the headset so a VR headset like this is arguably safer because it means you're not blocking out everything around you and maybe you'll be less likely to walk into something it also means you don't need complex sensors or fancy hand controllers in order to have a more interactive experience the model I tried is only version one of project alloy it was pretty clunky and honestly didn't fit all that well it also felt heavy on my head even though Intel says that in an Ideal World project Aly headsets won't weigh more than around 1 and2 lb and a lot of The Real World objects that appeared in my virtual world whether it was a person standing in front of me or even my own hands were sort of pixelated and difficult to see but Intel says a second updated project alloy headset is coming sometime in the new year with better internals and a sleeker design it will have the newer Intel Core processor KB Lake an improved computer vision chip from midus and the option for a discrete graphics card Intel also has a series of dedicated Labs set up in its offices where the company is constantly testing things like latency in other words how many milliseconds it takes for Real World stuff to show up in your computerized world so far only Microsoft has publicly committed to working with Intel on this project but Intel is hoping that project alloy is intriguing enough that other companies will want to jump on board as well so right now VR is kind of all over the place right you have these super simple experiences where you can just throw your phone in a piece of cardboard or even a cloth headset and use it that way and then you have really Advanced VR experiences that usually require tethering to some sort of computer system Intel is hoping to strike the balance between something that offers mobility and something that's powerful which so far has been really difficult to achieve but in an alternate reality I guess anything's possible throwing your phone in a piece of card bear card bear card bear that cardbear head super cool you know what I mean yeah yeahvirtual reality headsets are sometimes described as a computer that you wear on your face which is not entirely untrue but what if there was a virtual reality headset that had all the components of an all-in-one PC and you didn't have to be Tethered to a separate computer that's what Intel is pushing with project alloy its new prototype design for merged reality experiences now this isn't a headset that Intel is going to sell directly to Consumers but instead it plans to partner with companies like Microsoft to create a headset that it thinks is going to offer a unique experience I don't know about you but I could use a little break from actual reality lately so we went down to Intel's headquarters in Santa Clara to try on Project alloy and find out a little bit more about what merged reality is supposed to be this is Project alloy it's a prototype headset that Intel has built to show potential Hardware Partners what it's capable of it has a bunch of processors and Intel's really sense camera is built directly into it and it runs on a battery so you don't have to be Tethered to anything although it could work that way too the mobility of project alloy along with this concept of merged reality are really what's supposed to set it apart merged reality means that you can bring Real World objects into a virtual environment and then make them virtual too you can also see other people in the room in your virtual world it's kind of bizarre and cool and disorienting if Microsoft's Hollow lens is all about a augmented reality meaning you can see all of the real world with a layer of computing over it an Oculus Rift is all about virtual reality meaning your entirely in a virtual world just lies in this crazy place in between so for example while we were shooting this video I found myself in a completely virtual environment but one where I could still see my Verge colleagues and the other people in the lab I could use physical objects to play a virtual game if someone handed me a piece of paper and Pen I could still see well enough to write a note with it while I had the VR headset on I could even check the time on a real physical watch or take a selfie while I was wearing the headset so a VR headset like this is arguably safer because it means you're not blocking out everything around you and maybe you'll be less likely to walk into something it also means you don't need complex sensors or fancy hand controllers in order to have a more interactive experience the model I tried is only version one of project alloy it was pretty clunky and honestly didn't fit all that well it also felt heavy on my head even though Intel says that in an Ideal World project Aly headsets won't weigh more than around 1 and2 lb and a lot of The Real World objects that appeared in my virtual world whether it was a person standing in front of me or even my own hands were sort of pixelated and difficult to see but Intel says a second updated project alloy headset is coming sometime in the new year with better internals and a sleeker design it will have the newer Intel Core processor KB Lake an improved computer vision chip from midus and the option for a discrete graphics card Intel also has a series of dedicated Labs set up in its offices where the company is constantly testing things like latency in other words how many milliseconds it takes for Real World stuff to show up in your computerized world so far only Microsoft has publicly committed to working with Intel on this project but Intel is hoping that project alloy is intriguing enough that other companies will want to jump on board as well so right now VR is kind of all over the place right you have these super simple experiences where you can just throw your phone in a piece of cardboard or even a cloth headset and use it that way and then you have really Advanced VR experiences that usually require tethering to some sort of computer system Intel is hoping to strike the balance between something that offers mobility and something that's powerful which so far has been really difficult to achieve but in an alternate reality I guess anything's possible throwing your phone in a piece of card bear card bear card bear that cardbear head super cool you know what I mean yeah yeah\n"