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XboxScorpioSoC

Microsoft has been teasing its E3 bear witness for the past week or so, with hints about Project Scorpio. At present, we know the company is maybe looking to emphasize VR or AR with a new trademark filing for DirectReality. The unmarried-word trademark describes itself as applying to "Reckoner software; estimator game software; reckoner software for holographic applications… Online computer software; online figurer game software; online estimator software for holographic applications; Software every bit a Service (SaaS)."

In that location's been a lot of chatter almost whether this means VR, AR, or something altogether dissimilar. On the surface, it invites comparison to DirectX, Microsoft'southward API for tasks related to multimedia programming, including video playback, gaming, 2D graphics, and GPU compute. The name "DirectReality" aligns well with the names of these other components. Direct3D (which is what most people mean when they reference DirectX) is a single discussion, equally is Direct2D, DirectWrite, and DirectCompute. The API has also been critical to Microsoft's console efforts in the past; the entire Xbox make derives from DirectXbox.

DirectReality

The link to the trademark expires relatively chop-chop due to being classified equally a search upshot, and so here's an image. You can endeavor the link here.

That said, there are some interesting omissions here as well. Media speculation has been that this new DirectReality trademark could refer to programs for both VR and AR. But it's too possible Microsoft is just trademarking a name that will permit information technology to advertise when a game supports sure non-traditional gaming modes, in much the same way that a GPU might advertise DirectX 12 support. In this reading, "DirectReality" would mean that a game offers certain gameplay options, rather than being an API for developers to use to improve their games.

Microsoft's bodily trademark application makes no mention of VR, though it does speak about "figurer software for holographic applications," verbiage that aligns more than closely with the manner Microsoft talks virtually HoloLens than any VR projection. Microsoft has talked virtually VR and Project Scorpio before, simply the company doesn't seem to be putting much emphasis backside that movement. There will be no VR headsets at E3, and Microsoft has also stated that Windows 10 is its primary focus as a mixed reality driver. In a recent interview with Polygon, Microsoft Technical Fellow Alex Kipman had this to say:

Our main focus is making our mixed reality experiences a success on Windows x PCs," Alex Kipman, technical swain at Microsoft, told Polygon today. "Nosotros believe that right now a Windows PC is the best platform for mixed reality as its open ecosystem and enormous installed base offer the best opportunity for developers, and Windows offers the most choices for consumers.

"Windows has been the birthplace of a variety of technologies, and we believe this will agree for mixed reality too. Given the efforts nosotros have underway on Windows for mixed reality, and our belief that console VR should be wireless, correct now nosotros are focused on developing mixed reality experiences for the PC, not on the console."

That interview is only two days old and it suggests how this volition play out. The cheap VR headsets that Windows ten is meant to enable may well be matched by API back up, branding initiatives, or both to brand buying into the PC ecosystem more attractive to consumers and easier for developers to back up. And it explains why the Project Scorpio development boards nosotros've seen lack extra HDMI outputs or the other capabilities required to support wired VR with today's Oculus Rift or HTC Vive — Microsoft wants a wireless VR (or a better AR) solution and it sees this as a cardinal requirement for the platform. The touch on the accent on wireless will take on VR, and the need for battery-draining Wi-Fi speeds and local processing to run VR/AR workloads, is still unknown.