Disney Infinity is reportedly interested in virtual reality with the Microsoft HoloLens as the current frontrunner.
John Vignocchi, VP of production at Disney Interactive, the people behind the Disney Infnity "toys-to-life" platform revealed as much when he spoke to Engadget.
"There's the socialization problem right now with VR, but augmented reality is very exciting," he said.
VR headsets such as the Oculus Rift, and Sony's Project Morpheus tend to lack a social experience due to isolation. This is why Disney Interactive head John Blackburn would rather pick the augmented reality side of the coin.
"You kind of look at Microsoft's HoloLens stuff where you can kind of see through," he said. "And that's kind of interesting from that perspective because I can see everybody else around me. But yes, we're absolutely interested in that space because the Toy Box itself is kind of a very interesting concept of 'I'm in the world I built.'"
And while video games currently dominate virtual reality, Microsoft is looking for other ways to use the technology by way of research grants. The tech giant doesn't know how HoloLens will be used yet but it already has some ideas.
"We expect that researchers will envision novel ways of using HoloLens - from interactively teaching students, to creating mixed-reality art installations, to manipulating holographic data to reveal new relationships... to who knows what," Microsoft Research VP Jeannette Wing wrote.
According to The Verge, the tech giant will begin accepting submissions starting September. University and non-profit researchers are eligible for grants which rewards $100,000 and a pair of HoloLens development kits to five groups.
The website thinks it's "a good way to get some interesting projects" which could help define the augmented reality headset's uses.
Two specialized Microsoft HoloLens units were bound for the International Space Station as part of Sidekick, a collaboration of the tech giant and NASA to explore its uses for space exploration. Sadly, both were lost during a failed resupply mission although Microsoft indicated it will try again.
