LAS VEGAS — It's no secret Intel is investing heavily in virtual reality.
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Intel's CEO Brian Krzanich reiterated the company's commitment to pushing VR forward with Project Alloy, the company's self-contained VR headset reference design, during CES 2017 on Thursday.。

SEE ALSO:Here's when Intel's standalone wireless VR headset will arrive。

I've tried every major VR headset and many of the lesser known ones, so I jumped at the chance to try out Alloy. 。

It's important to remember that the Alloy headset I tried was a prototype reference design. Intel's not going to produce the headsets itself. Instead, its hardware partners will use the existing reference design model and design their own. The first of these headsets will arrive by Q4 of 2017, the company says.。

That said, the headset is a lot bulkier than it looks in Intel's official images. That's not surprising since the headset contains more computing bits than, say, a mobile VR headset like the Samsung Gear VR, which is really just a plastic shell since the entire VR experience is powered off the attached smartphone.。

Credit: lili sams/mashable。

The head strap is not too different from the one on the PlayStation VR. Instead of using velcro straps like the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive, Project Alloy has a plastic hoop that sits on your head, almost like a crown. The design also serves a second purpose: to hold up the front-heavy portion of the headset where the Intel processor, vision processor, RealSense cameras, display and lenses are housed.  。

Even after adjusting it, the headset kept falling down over my eyes and I had to hold it up with one hand several times during my demo. My hope is the headset gets significantly lighter by the time actual headsets based off Alloy launch.。

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Project Alloy is pretty big and bulkyCredit: lili sams/mashable 。

But I can't knock the hardware for being unfinished since it's just a prototype after all.。

So what's it like to try out a "merged reality" experience that makes the real world a part of the virtual world? Not too bad, actually.。

The game demo I tried out was the same one that Intel showed off during its CES press conference on Wednesday:
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Project Alloy let's users see each other, cable-free and transforms rooms into immersive gaming arenas #CES2017 #MashCES pic.twitter.com/Bqtmxnx02H 。

— Raymond Wong 📱💾📼 (raywongy) January 5, 2017 。

Using the outward-facing RealSense 3D depth cameras, the headset was able to scan the roughly 15- x 15-foot room I was standing in and detect the furniture and objects inside as well. 。

I was given a wand-shaped controller and told my objective was to shoot the drones out of the sky. It wasn't a technically complex demo and the drones weren't hard to take out.。

What makes Project Alloy unique isn't the mere fact that it's a self-contained VR headset, but that its cameras can scan the objects in your room and make them a part of the game.。

The headset scans the furniture and objects in the room and maps virtual textures over them make them a part of the VR world.Credit: lili sams/mashable
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So for example, the table in the center of the demo room turned into a generator inside of the VR world and I could walk around it without bumping into it. And the sofa turned into a storage container.。

It sounds like a great idea at first until you realize that there's no way to tell the difference between real objects that are now a part of the game world and completely virtual objects. 。 I prefer a holographic experience, like the kind with HoloLens, where virtual objects are mapped。I prefer a holographic experience, like the kind with HoloLens, where virtual objects are mapped。

on top
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of real objects and you can still see them.。

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Though I was a little underwhelmed with Project Alloy, there's no denying that the headset is a glimpse at what's in store for VR headsets. Right now, VR headsets can generate these massive immersive digital worlds, but they're pretty dumb when it comes to actually understanding your physical surroundings. Alloy will help make them smarter.
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