Microsoft gives gamers a glance at virtual reality

In the real world, the table at the center of Microsoft’s Minecraft presentation at a gaming conference here on Monday was ordinary — just a square block of wood on four legs.

But a man onstage playing the game strapped on a virtual reality headset and gestured at the piece of furniture. From his viewpoint — which was broadcast on huge screens surrounding the stage — an entire landscape of buildings, set on a mountain peak, appeared to rise from the table.

Using his voice, head gestures or his fingers, he was able to move through the scene or peer inside a building to see what was going on in a room.

The demonstration by Microsoft gave the world’s gaming community its first close look at what is expected to be its next big trend: virtual reality. While the technology has been talked about for years, it finally appears to be on the verge of a major breakthrough with offerings from Microsoft, Sony and others for popular games.

Virtual reality appeared to fit naturally within the architecturally oriented game play of Minecraft, which Microsoft purchased for $2.5 billion last year. For the presentation, the company used its HoloLens device, which it unveiled earlier this year. Microsoft also announced that it is working with another headset made by Valve, the company behind the “Half-Life” video-game franchise. Last week, Microsoft said it would also team with Oculus’s headset for Xbox games.

Sony, which makes the PlayStation console, is expected to showcase its own virtual reality headset, called Project Morpheus later at the Electronic Entertainment Expo, one of the world’s largest gaming conventions.

The presentation by Microsoft was crucial for the company, which is trying to portray itself as a leader in virtual reality applications. Its Xbox One consoles have not been selling as well as PlayStation 4 in recent months.