Video Of Real-World ‘Portal’ Shows Off Possibilities For Microsoft HoloLens

If you have doubt about the entertainment potential for augmented reality headsets like Microsoft’s HoloLens, this video from developer who recreated the mechanics of the popular Portal video games in AR may give you something to believe in.

For those who haven’t played the Portal games — which would be a shame — the namesake mechanics of the series involve the ability to create two linked portals that allow the player to move around the world in novel ways.

While the demo below from developer Kenny W doesn’t involve the player moving through the portals — that wouldn’t be possible through AR — it does show the player moving a “companion cube” (heart and all) through a wide variety of real-world situations.

Not only does the HoloLens recognize walls and floors, but the AR cube interacts with tables, stairs, curbs, and other real-world surfaces.

Of course, this all comes with the caveat that this is a demo and we have no idea if the game would work this well for most users. However, it does give us some hope that the HoloLens holds real promise as a gaming device.

[via TechCrunch]