Microsoft HoloLens Opens A Whole New World For App Developers
At a stage when most of the consumer world is obsessed with virtual reality (VR) devices coming fast to the market, Microsoft has taken a step forward and entered the Augmented Reality (AR) computing. Starting March 30, 2016, the first batch of HoloLens began to be shipped to developers on an invite-only basis.
The HoloLens is a fully wireless and the only device out there that enables holographic computing with no external cameras, hardware or any connection whatsoever to a PC. A fully Windows 10 device, it packs more power in its hardware than an average computer. Just like any VR device, HoloLens is a headband computer worn on the head. Microsoft has made sure that the weight of the device does not get concentrated on your nose by adding an adjustable headband. Inside, HoloLens has advanced sensors to capture information about the environment you are in, because essentially, holographic computing is a healthy blend of interaction of holograms with your physical surroundings. An advanced optical projection system generates multi-dimensional colorful holograms which can be seen through transparent lenses. At the heart of the device lies the HPU (Holographic Processing Unit) which processes information captured by the sensors at a very high speed so that the user can interact with the holograms through gestures and actions. It also features built-in speakers that provide spatial sound.
An obvious question that arises is What is the hype about? It’s nothing different! As a matter of fact, it is! It’s a whole new level ahead of VR. What VR devices like Oculus Rift or the Gear VR do is blocking out the environment around you and immersing you in a 2D realm of pixels. AR technology used in the Hololens does not eliminate the environment out of your experience. In fact, the sole purpose of the so many advanced sensors in the gear is to provide a healthy interaction between the physical environment around you and the holograms. And Microsoft seems to be hell-bent on selling this idea. So, you don’t need to be plugged to your PC or laptop; with HoloLens, you can freely roam about with the sensors doing all the work to adjust to your changing surroundings.
With Microsoft entering the Augmented Reality sector, developers have a new plethora of opportunities and experiences to create! And Microsoft is counting on such opportunities to build a fully balanced ecosystem for its AR division. The HoloLens will enable people to project their virtual work in mid-air, walk through it, zoom it at a gesture of their hands and work through all the complexities - all without breaking from the real world environment! And this is not only helpful in gaming, which is what VR devices focus on currently, but it could completely revolutionize industries such as manufacturing, automotive, healthcare, and especially R&D and design and engineering departments where users can create a replica of their work in a physical environment, rather than on a screen - much like a physical model of a product, but a highly modifiable one. As of now, some of the regular Windows 10 apps are already available for developers to use in the mixed reality paradigm to get inspiration from. Skype, for example, is more interacting and interesting, when you can virtually interact with the physical environment of the person at the other end. Or imagine creating your own holographic projections from objects in the real world and being able to interact with them using gaze, gesture and voice (this can be enabled with the HoloStudio app). The developer edition also has an app called HoloTour that allows developers to virtually visit any city in the world in a deeply designed digital environment with rich details (imagine visiting Rome and hearing church bells of the Vatican virtually).
Speaking about games, the most enriching experience is offered by Fragments. It is a detective game that unfolds right in your own house. This game is aimed to demonstrate to developers how characters can interact with users and help them create emotional engagement and attachment! The developer edition also includes a game called Young Conker, where the playing environment adapts superbly to your physical environment. So every time you play in your bedroom or kitchen or outdoor, you get a truly different and never-repeating experience!
In addition to providing such actual holographic app dev opportunities to developers at no cost, Microsoft has made available a huge pool of resources, too, such as the complete set of documentation and video tutorials.
In the near future, when the HoloLens becomes available on the mass market, it will be truly exciting to see custom built apps flowing into the apps marketplace. We are just scratching the surface of mixed reality paradigm and the power of holograms will not only revolutionize technology, but also benefit many industries.
