All we need now is a way to directly project images onto our retinas for total immersion.
Isn't that what a monitor does?
I saw this video at the GDC. What you have to keep in mind is that they will show you the very best demo they can, which may or may not run in real-time. If they show you a small room being lit with dynamic light, it is because that is the largest area their engine can handle. If they show a guy running by and knocking into a bush, you will probably see the same bush animation occur 100 times in the game. The "volumetric clouds" looked like sprites to me, and the "realtime soft shadows" were just a projected texture. Nice artwork, but this is not exactly revolutionary.
The only thing that caught my eye about this video was the resolution of leaves in the foreground. If the game does ship like that, it will be nice. But "bigger textures" isn't exactly a catchy BS graphics feature, is it?