The University of Hull has launched an accelerator dedicated to developing Mixed Reality tech for the Microsoft HoloLens.

The University of Hull’s Mixed Reality accelerator was recently launched with the remit of promoting collaboration between industry and academia to develop commercial applications for Microsoft HoloLens. It is led by VISR a company founded in 2015 by veteran Xbox games developer Louis Deane and his business partner Lindsay West. They were one of the earliest Microsoft Mixed Reality partners in Europe.

The University of Hull’s Mixed Reality accelerator is promoting collaboration between industry and academia to develop commercial applications for Microsoft HoloLens
Share on X

John Hemingway, Director of ICT at the University of Hull explains that hosting the Mixed Reality Accelerator was a natural progression for the University, as it taps into the institution’s history of computer games development, virtual reality and 3D visualization developed over the past 30 years.

“As a University, it’s important for us to not only lead from the front when it comes to cutting-edge technologies, but also to look at how those technologies allow us to create ever more skilled and work-ready graduates. sWhat we’ve created marks the first HoloLens accelerator of its kind, giving some of our brightest students the opportunity to work alongside a number of leading brands to help solve real-life problems.”

The program was specifically formulated to help industry to fast-track the adoption of Mixed Reality technology and build the participating students towards being experts in this new field of computing. It will see 24 of the University’s computer science and digital media students working alongside global companies such as car maker Audi, global drinks brand AB InBev and energy company Centrica. These companies are exploring how best to leverage immersive technologies to improve communication, efficiency, safety and product quality.

The program was formulated to help industry to fast-track the adoption of Mixed Reality technology
Share on X

‘Team Audi’ member Cosmin Dragu, who is a University of Hull Computer Science graduate, said: “Ours is an ambitious project that has seen us combining technologies in ways that have not been done before, involving both machine learning and image recognition to create an interactive user experience, showing them how to construct an engine from scratch.

“For me personally, this is a new area of research I have wanted to get into for some time now and I’m excited because I’m also having the chance to use technologies I’m familiar with in new ways.”

Leila Martine, Microsoft’s Product Marketing Director, explains that working with enterprise to tackle real challenges is key:

“In this era of profound digital disruption, the majority of industries will experience significant change within two years. It is therefore vital that technology partners and universities come together to create a streamlined approach for the creation of meaningful proof of concepts, which can be quickly tested and return-on-investment (ROI) validated in a way that can then be taken forward by an organization and integrated into their existing business processes.

Centrica, for example, plans to use the technology to develop 3D modeling of the Easington gas terminal to improve safety and efficiency. VISR Managing Director Louis Deane believes that these kinds of solutions have the potential to streamline processes, improve safety and potentially change the way in which billions of workers do their jobs over the next 10 years.

“Being involved in the change curve that is Mixed Reality development is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for the students involved in our accelerator and they’ll be able to look back in 10 or 20 years’ time and say ‘I helped create that’.”

Centrica plans to use Mixed Reality to develop 3D modeling of the Easington gas terminal to improve safety and efficiency
Share on X

Deane also hopes that in the context of escalating Brexit uncertainty, programs such as these can provide some much-needed fresh international trade opportunities for the local and broader U.K. economy.

“The program has far-reaching implications for the U.K. economy at a time of considerable uncertainty related to the country’s relationship with the European Union. The great thing about technology like this, is that it is truly borderless and reaches across jurisdictions and cultures, and everyone can benefit from technology which connects and empowers workers.”

“The practical digital skills training that University of Hull students receive will not only help their employability prospects but also ensure that U.K. companies get state-of-the-art talent to transform the way we create, collaborate and explore in the future. As a result of the program, I expect to see ground-breaking spatial computing experiences with demonstrable impact,” agrees Martine.

Deane adds that the shift we are going to see as a result of this technology over the next 10 to 15 years is going to be astronomical, and that more companies are now grasping transformative opportunity that this technology represents.

“The car engineer of the future is going to work very differently to the way they work today. It’s exciting because, fundamentally, the task of repairing vehicles has operationally been the same for decades and we have an opportunity to change it. The engineer can now work in an environment where, as they approach a vehicle, the HoloLens can recognize where the work has to be carried out and provide direct visual instructions overlaid on the car. Pair this with intelligent devices, such as robots that bring the exact required parts and tools so they’re at hand and work with the technician to make them more efficient, and suddenly you’re looking at huge increases in cost savings and productivity.”

In order to make this a reality, Deane explains that three key ingredients are needed: devices which are capable of providing this kind of smart data, a platform powerful enough to do something meaningful with it, and people skilled enough to author such a system. “In Hull we have all three,” he says.

Michael Codd, AB InBev’s Digital Marketing and Innovation Lead for Europe, adds: “We’re looking at using the technology in the future to empower the pubs by targeting and optimising their activities, benefiting us as a supplier, the outlets themselves and, importantly, the end consumer, whose needs will be better served.”

The program has far-reaching implications for the U.K. economy at a time of considerable uncertainty related to Brexit
Share on X

Jan Pflueger, Coordination AR & VR, Center of Competence AR & VR at Audi AG, explains that his company is looking to use visual and spatial computing to improve context awareness and workflow to support its technicians.

“For us, it is a great opportunity to bring our experience and vision of future use cases in contact with the experts in the different fields, added with the creativity and knowledge of the team at the University.”

Such programs that foster collaboration between education institutions with private businesses and industry are key to Microsoft’s strategy, and evidence shows that it’s proving effective as industry is steadily embracing Mixed Reality. Much like the recent introduction of Mixed Reality as a service by Microsoft, it is part of a steady push to get more enterprises (of all sizes) to experience the tangible benefits that immersive tech can bring to their businesses.

This article was originally published on Forbes

University of Hull Opens World First Mixed Reality Acceleratorhttps://t.co/jKoCqRYFpg

— Forbes Tech (@ForbesTech) July 27, 2018

To find out how to leverage VR/AR/MR in your enterprise, Tech Trends offers bespoke Virtual Reality Consultancy support

Alice Bonasio is a VR Consultant and Tech Trends’ Editor in Chief. She also regularly writes for Fast Company, Ars Technica, Quartz, Wired and others. Connect with her on LinkedIn and follow @alicebonasio and @techtrends_tech on Twitter.

The post Accelerating Mixed Reality appeared first on Tech Trends.

An Oregon start-up has launched a new 3D collaboration platform for the HoloLens – and it’s free.

Object Theory calls itself “the world’s first HoloLens company,” and although all such claims have to be taken with a pinch of salt, they’re probably not far off. Back in 2015, just weeks after the HoloLens was first unveiled to the world, Michael Hoffman left Microsoft – where he was responsible for creating many of the HoloLens showcase experiences such as the Trimble demo – to start the company with co-founder Raven Zachary, who had previously founded iPhoneDevCamp, the largest non-Apple iOS development conference.

Object Theory was one of the first companies to become a Microsoft HoloLens Dev Partner
Share on X

They became one of the first teams to join Microsoft’s Mixed Reality Partner Program. Ever since, the Portland-based startup has been working from their Oregon base with a range of enterprise customers in industries such as Architecture, Engineering, Construction, Automotive and Energy & Utilities.

Object Theory has worked with customers in the Architecture, Automotive and Energy sectors
Share on X

Prism features avatar-based holographic telepresence
Share on X

Now Object Theory has just released a new collaborative computing application for the HoloLens called Prism, which takes many of the functionalities they’ve been developing for those clients over the past couple of years, and offers them to users in a free Windows Store application.

“We’ve been working on our Mixed Reality Collaboration Service for two years, and after deploying it successfully for several client projects, we felt it was the right time to release a free application on the Windows Store that demonstrates to HoloLens users the power of collaborative computing,” says Hoffman

Prism currently includes two demo experiences users can try out: Designing a modern house and planning a mountain hike on Mount Hood, Oregon’s highest peak. These are very cool, but this is about more than individual demos, it’s hinting at a much broader trend that companies like Object Theory are hoping to capitalize on. At its core, its founders say that Prism represents the vision of collaborative computing that HoloLens creator Alex Kipman has long advocated.

The platform allows users to examine and discuss 3D objects and environments simultaneously
Share on X

The combination features takes the Prism proposition far beyond your usual videoconferencing
Share on X

Prism features avatar-based holographic telepresence that allows participants to examine and discuss truly three-dimensional objects and environments through shared experiences. The application allows up to four participants per session to collaborate in real time from remote locations, enabled by life-size 3D avatars and spatial audio chat. In other words, it lets users interact realistically with people, objects and environments, both real and digital. That includes being able to display 3D models at tabletop and true-scale sizes, as well as making annotations in 3D space.

The combination of all those features really does take the proposition far beyond your usual videoconferencing offering. You’re not talking about sharing a screen, but about being able to walk around three-dimensional objects and examine in detail while your colleagues do the same, and you know you’re all looking at the same thing.

Such applications brings us closer to Alex Kipman's vision of Mixed Reality collaborative computing
Share on X

An architectural design team, for example, can switch between looking at a holographic model of a building sitting atop a desk to actually standing inside one of the rooms, and compare their experiences in real-time with one another, regardless of where individual team members happen to be in the world. A medical team could do the same when deciding the Operating Theatre layout before a complex surgery, and even have a practice run with a holographic patient. The possibilities are endlessly exciting, and if well-executed, the concept has potential to be a massive game changer for all industries. Which is why the HoloLens has had such enthusiastic take-up in building corporate partnerships.

If well-executed, the concept has potential to be a massive game changer for all industries
Share on X

The technology is currently being used in custom application projects for enterprise customers
Share on X

The technology is currently being used in custom application development projects by enterprise customers, and Object Theory offers several license options for its Mixed Reality Collaboration Service that include building custom applications. The company also offers a commercial version of Prism that allows organizations to import their own 3D models and collaborate in private sessions.

“We believe that Mixed Reality will empower the next generation of collaborative computing beyond what today’s video conferencing and screen sharing solutions are able to provide,” says Zachary. “Our public release of this application is just the beginning of showcasing next-generation collaboration scenarios, something we expect to be a major focus for Microsoft HoloLens and Windows Mixed Reality applications in the years to come.”

This article was originally published on VRScout

This HoloLens App Wants To Kickstart Collaborative Mixed Reality via @alicebonasio https://t.co/xIX3AgXjKr pic.twitter.com/lMpgGQSqqx

— VRScout (@VRScout) December 4, 2017

If you would like to find out how to leverage collaborative VR/AR/MR in your own project or enterprise, Tech Trends offers Virtual Reality Consultancy support

Alice Bonasio is a VR Consultant and Tech Trends’ Editor in Chief. She also regularly writes for Fast Company, Ars Technica, Quartz, Wired and others. Connect with her on LinkedIn and follow @alicebonasio on Twitter.

The post Collaborating in Mixed Reality is Big Business appeared first on Tech Trends.

Healthcare is one of the areas with most potential for dramatic improvement with the implementation of Virtual, Augmented and Mixed Reality Technologies

The virtual world is already having a real impact in people's lives and health
Share on X

As countries around the world struggle to find health care provision models that balance the needs of aging populations with shrinking budgets—and as startups jostle to get into operating rooms—the virtual world is already being used to impact the health care of real people.

“I could be in Cleveland and teach a group of students in, say, London with all of us able to see one another and the holograms simultaneously,” says Professor Mark Griswold, Case Western Reserve’s faculty leader for the university’s efforts with Microsoft’s HoloLens, the $3,000 developer-edition-only augmented reality glasses. “The professor can see how students are interacting with the hologram in real time, and respond immediately with additional explanations or encouragement as needed.”

Devices like the HoloLens and consumer VR helmets like Samsung’s Gear VR and Facebook’s Oculus have received the most attention as vehicles for escape, but their real-world applications are growing fastest in the workplace. IDC, which pegs current industry revenues at around $5.6 billion, says much of the growth in shipments of VR and AR headsets over the next five years will come from industrial uses (80% a year), versus consumer uses (50%), like video games, films, porn, and other entertainment. Among current non-health care HoloLens customers, for instance, are companies like Lowe’s, Volvo, and ThyssenKrupp, whose technicians use the glasses to operate on ailing elevators.

Healthcare revenues for VR and AR technologies reached nearly a billion dollars in 2016
Share on X

In health care, revenues for VR and AR technologies reached nearly a billion dollars in 2016, according to Kalorama Research. Some estimate that by 2025, that number could reach over $5 billion, thanks to uses in areas like telemedicine, pain relief, robotic surgery, and, increasingly, medical simulations.

VR and AR are already being used in areas like pain relief, robotic surgery and telemedicine
Share on X

Medical instructors say a VR helmet, coupled with haptic-feedback “syringes,” can help a surgeon practice a complex operation in detail before carrying it out—or help a doctor with limited access to education locally get better medical training, improving patient experience and outcomes. A pair of augmented reality goggles can put an animated “patient” in front of students, making the expensive dummies obsolete altogether. And as medical operations become more sophisticated and high-tech, computer glasses could help get practitioners up to speed faster.

The United States is facing a shortfall of 100,000 physicians by 2030
Share on X

Health care experts have proposed new technologies like these as one of various solutions to what some have called a crisis in medicine: The United States could be facing a shortfall of between 48,000 and 100,000 physicians by 2030, according to the Association of American Medical Colleges. Since it takes between five and 10 years on average to train a new physician, medical industry experts say the U.S. urgently needs more people to enter that training pipeline now, particularly in highly specialized fields: The greatest shortfall, on a percentage basis, will be in the demand for surgeons, especially those who treat cancer and other diseases more common to older people.

Using Mixed Reality simulations to train surgeons could alleviate the shortfall and bring in cost savings
Share on X

Alleviating that shortfall and upgrading decades-old simulations with mixed reality could also ferry in cost savings that can’t come soon enough. In the U.S., the cost of health care continues to surge, far beyond the price of drugs: Open-heart surgery is 70% more than the next highest country; an appendectomy over two times more. And the price for a day in the hospital is about five times more in the U.S. than other developed countries.

Originally published on the Fast Company website

The unreal, bleeding-edge tech that’s helping doctors make the cut https://t.co/g1dV4I5BBp pic.twitter.com/707KhPVUXz

— Fast Company (@FastCompany) June 20, 2017

Tech Trends’  Virtual Reality Consultancy services offers support for companies looking to get a foothold in the growing Mixed Reality spectrum and enhance their brand strategy with these exciting new technologies. 

Alice Bonasio is a VR and Digital Transformation Consultant and Tech Trends’ Editor in Chief. She also regularly writes for Fast Company, Ars Technica, Quartz, Wired and others. Connect with her on LinkedIn and follow @alicebonasio on Twitter.

The post Changing the Way Surgeons Operate with Mixed Reality appeared first on Tech Trends.

Tech Trends is heading over to Seattle for Microsoft Build 2017, and we’re VERY excited about it.

Seattle Skyline Picture by Eric Kilby

No, it’s not often I get this excited about a conference. Let’s be honest, sometimes they can be rather dull. But this is a big deal. Tickets for Microsoft Build sometimes sell out within minutes (impressive considering they cost over $2000) and although this year there were some technical issues which meant that it took about 8 hours for the 2017 edition to fill up, it can’t really be argued that the event is not very popular indeed.

Tech Trends is heading over to Seattle for Microsoft Build 2017
Share on X

Tickets for Microsoft Build usually sell out within minutes
Share on X

But this year Microsoft’s flagship conference (which takes place from the 10^th to the 12^th May) is going to be rather more special. Not only is it taking place in Seattle for the first time –the company’s spiritual home – but there is a lot of genuinely exciting stuff happening.

There should be a lot of new and exciting stuff coming out about the Microsoft Mixed Reality Ecosystem
Share on X

Rumors abound about cool new hardware such as the Surface Pro, and we’re likely to see a lot of interesting news all things Microsoft, but quite frankly, for me, it’s all about AR, the HoloLens and what’s happening around their Mixed Reality ecosystem. This will be a chance not only to get the latest scoop, but also to catch up up with Microsoft’s developing partners (some of which we already met, most recently during an awesome demo session in London)

Microsoft promises to unveil its “latest new technologies and exciting plans on the horizon. Microsoft Build is filled with strong technical sessions as well as opportunities to meet and learn from others in the industry. We’ll make sure the schedule is filled with solid content, and will strive to deliver some fun surprises along the way.”

Bring it on!

If you’re going to be in Seattle for Build (or just to stay up-to-date with the latest news from the grapevine), be sure to connect on LinkedIn, follow me on Twitter and tune into the live stream below:

Tune into the #MSBuild Live Streamed sessions here at Tech Trends!
Share on X

Microsoft Build 2017 Conference

May 10-12

Washington State Convention Center

Seattle, WA

#MSBuild

For companies looking to get into VR/AR/MR our Virtual Reality Consultancy services offer guidance on how these technologies can enhance and support your brand strategy.

Alice Bonasio is a VR Consultant and Tech Trends’ Editor in Chief. She also regularly writes for Fast Company, Ars Technica, Quartz, Wired and others. Connect with her on LinkedIn and follow @alicebonasio and @techtrends_tech on Twitter.

The post Tech Trends at #MSBuild appeared first on Tech Trends.

Here at Tech Trends we have been fans of the HoloLens ever since we were invited to demo it last year, so we continue to follow its development with interest.

Mixed Reality has huge potential for business but it requires a lot of skill and expertise to produce content
Share on X

This week, for example, Microsoft announced that it is expanding its agency readiness program to Europe, as they continue to focus on enabling a broader community of developers and commercial partners to develop around the product.

Mixed Reality has huge potential for business but it requires a lot of skill and expertise coming together to produce compelling content for the medium.

“Over the last several months, we began shipping HoloLens to more developers and commercial customers around the globe, including those in Australia, Ireland, France, Germany, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and Japan. Customers in these regions need partners they can trust to create the future of mixed reality experiences.” A statement on Microsoft’s official blog reads.

They go on to list six new European-focused partners joining the HoloLens Agency Readiness Partner program (three in the UK, two in France and one in Germany). These are: Black Marble, Fundamental VR, Holoforge, Immersion, REWIND and Zuhlke.

“We are delighted to have been selected as a Hololens partner by Microsoft. The holographic platform offers exciting new opportunities in medical knowledge transfer, that come at a time when the medical world needs to radically enhance the speed, accuracy and efficiency of that knowledge transfer,” says Chris Scattergood, Founder of one of those newly announced partner agencies, FundamentalVR.

The idea is that as more companies begin to understand and deploy the benefits of HoloLens and mixed reality it is important that we provide a broad set of choices to help IT departments build mixed reality applications.

“The HoloLens Agency Readiness Partners have all gone through extensive, hands-on training with our team, and as part of their commitments in the program have delivered real customer solutions for companies around the globe, like Paccar, Lowe’s, Red Bull Air Race, CDM Smith, UK Police Force, and Alstom,” says Microsoft, claiming the eco-system around HoloLens is thriving.

If you would like help and guidance getting your own VR/AR/MR project off the ground, get in touch about our Virtual Reality Consultancy services and see how this exciting technology can be integrated into your commercial and branding strategy.

The post Microsoft Partners with Creative Agencies to Expand HoloLens appeared first on Tech Trends.

Fortune 500 companies are getting very excited about what holograms can do, and with very good reason. Mixed Reality (MR) brings together the best of both worlds, blending real-world context and interaction with enhanced graphics which means that information is presented in a much more dynamic and useful way.

Fortune 500 companies are getting very excited about what holograms can do
Share on X

All in all, it makes for better learning, more efficiency, and a collaborative workflow. We meet some of the early adopters of the main Mixed Reality platform to be released on a commercial scale – the Microsoft HoloLens – to see what the fuss is really all about.

You can see an excerpt from my latest Ars Technica feature about this below, or click here to read the full article

Our new (mixed) reality: Early adopters have become HoloLens believers at work https://t.co/mYa4s6m1TX

— Ars Technica (@arstechnica) March 11, 2017

It’s been roughly two years since Microsoft unveiled its augmented/mixed reality (AR/MR) HoloLens headset and about one year since the first publicly available dev kits went on sale. But ever since launching this impressive piece of tech, Microsoft has instead seemed content with letting Virtual Reality (VR) take the limelight. Take its recent Creators Update presentation in October as an example. Microsoft revealed tons of upcoming 3D functionality to benefit both VR and AR, but the headlines came when the company announced hardware OEMs like HP, Dell, Lenovo, Asus, and Acer would be making VR headsets of their own with Microsoft software powering the experience.

Throughout HoloLens’ short existence, Microsoft has repeatedly emphasized how this product, still a first-generation device, was simply not yet consumer-ready. In these first two years of HoloLens public awareness, Microsoft would only focus on building partnerships and use cases that showcased the business and enterprise applications for this new augmented/mixed reality platform.

The terms AR and MR are often applied interchangeably, but MR is used most often by Microsoft when describing the HoloLens technology. No matter what you want to call it, this approach has several practical advantages compared to VR. Not only is it much less likely to trigger the type of discomfort associated with so-called “simulator sickness,” but the ability to overlay holographic elements onto real-world environments makes the HoloLens particularly suited to training and education applications, for example.

Most significant for business and enterprise situations, however, is the fact that—unlike with VR—the user is not shut away from their surroundings with AR/MR. Whether or not you happen to be sharing a physical space, MR allows you to see, listen, and talk to others while everyone involved sees the same holograms simultaneously. It’s this precise ability to create a shared reality mixing all those elements that potentially makes the HoloLens such a powerful collaboration and visualization tool.

The post Why Mixed Reality is Going to Transform Business appeared first on Tech Trends.

After experiencing Mixed Reality, it’s really hard to go back.

“Welcome to Life in Holograms – this is my room,” says HoloLens Evangelist Colin Edwards as he welcomes me to my Mixed Reality initiation.

With a couple of gestures and voice commands, I can make my virtual TV screen as big as I want
Share on X

We start off by looking at a wall, which, in the real world, contains two pictures. Through the HoloLens, however, I can now see 3 additional photographs placed between them. Colin points proudly to one of his son in his football gear before we turn to look at the opposite wall, which is adorned by two abstract holographic images downloaded from the Internet.

“Say I’m looking to buy a picture, but wanted to see how it will look on my wall before I decide, I can do that,” he explains before asking me which of the two is my least favourite. “The red one,” I decide.

Colin then instructs me to look at the red picture and say “remove”. Just like that, the offending image disappears. I then look at the remaining image, say the word “adjust,” and with a pinching motion of my thumb and index finger I drag it so that it is positioned centrally on the wall.

Next up, I sit on the (real) sofa to watch a virtual TV. With a couple of gestures I drag the corner of the screen to make it about 3 times bigger, and play a high resolution video. When I’m done watching I simply tell it to “stop.”

It's a good job the HoloLens is not available for the general public to buy yet, or it would be an expensive Christmas
Share on X

Then the REAL fun begins. I select a tiny T-Rex hologram from a board on the corner (other options included a unicorn, a zombie, and a rather cute bulldog) Under Colin’s watchful eye, I place it on the floor a few feet away from us and utter the magic spell – sorry, voice command – which makes it go full-size. With a final air-tap flourish, the beast then comes to life and rushes towards us. It really did make me feel like a Harry Potter character to make such things happen just by looking, gesturing, and issuing imperious voice commands.

That was my third HoloLens demo, and it’s a damn good job these aren’t for sale in the shops yet, or this would be one heck of an expensive Christmas.

It feels rather strange to be lusting over a Microsoft product like this. They're not supposed to be the cool ones
Share on X

Microsoft are looking a lot cooler than Apple right now
Share on X

It feels rather strange to be lusting over a Microsoft product like this. But I will actually go out on a limb and risk some serious Twitter flack here by saying that they’re looking a lot cooler than Apple right now.

While the best idea that Apple seems to come up with these days is getting rid of a headphone jack, Microsoft’s Surface book looks good enough that I decided to switch as soon as my MacBook (which has been behaving in a worryingly erratic manner of late) finally gives up the ghost. I’m rather looking forward to it.

In less than two years since announcing it, Microsoft has built a seriously impressive piece of kit
Share on X

But that’s nothing compared to the innovation the HoloLens brings. In less than two years since announcing it, Microsoft has built a seriously impressive piece of kit that manages to be cool even though it’s still primarily a corporate tool. Unlike with most VR devices, Gaming and Entertainment only form a very small proportion of its content, and Microsoft’s Director of Product Marketing Leila Martine stressed several times that this is not meant to be a consumer device yet, and that this is only the start of a multi-year journey.

This is only the start of the journey for the HoloLens
Share on X

Mixed Reality really kicks VR's butt in a lot of ways
Share on X

Which is a shame, because as much as I’m a fan of VR, Mixed Reality really kicks its virtual butt. Unity Labs Lead Designer Timoni West explained one of the reasons for this when we were discussing the reason why most VR experiences don’t last more than a few minutes.

“There are very few experiences in this world that are worth 100% of your time and attention, and I think that’s one of the reasons why VR experiences do tend to be shorter right now. There’s no way to check your phone in VR, it’s very hard to find your drink if you’ve misplaced it, It demands most of your attention, and there is nothing else out there that does that except maybe a new-born child.”

HoloLens is an entirely different proposition: a fully untethered holographic device. This means that everything it needs to operate (basically a fully functional Windows 10 computer) is contained in the headset itself. I cannot stress how impressive that is. No wires, no huge external processing units, just the glasses. And call me a dork if you will, but I actually think they look good.

At the start of my session Colin measured my IPD (Individual Pupillary Distance) which meant there was very little adjustment required before I could start exploring those Mixed Reality experiences. Everything was in focus, my gaze was automatically and accurately tracked, and at no point did I feel even a hint of any discomfort or eyestrain. The same cannot be said for the times I used VR on various devices.

“You tend to forget that over the last 70 thousand years we’ve only had one reality which has been physical, based on atoms, things you can touch,” Says Martine. “It’s only in the last couple of generations really that you started having this digital world of bits and bytes and logic, but those two realities have still been very separate. This is now a really significant moment across the entire spectrum of what we call Mixed Reality.”

It’s interesting that they now seem fully committed to the MR label rather than AR. Martine explains that what they’re doing is not merely augmenting reality – creating something overlays onto a real-world background – nor is it a separate immersive experience like VR. Mixed Reality represents an entire new spectrum of possibilities.

It’s interesting that Microsoft now seem fully committed to the MR label rather than AR
Share on X

As cool as it is though, this is about much more than a single device. The hardware is an enabler for Microsoft’s bigger play to become the dominant Mixed Reality platform. At Computex this summer they announced Windows as a holographic platform that would allow anyone who wants to build on this continuum to use it and therefore have the content accessible across any device. Offering a hardware option to go with this is part of that broader strategy, explained Martine:

“The reason why we chose to get involved building first party devices like these is that when you get involved in a category that is emerging you often need to build out as this is something that hasn’t been done before.”

Although they’re focusing on creating new 3D experiences and applications, 2D apps built for regular computers will also run on the HoloLens, as it’s essentially a Windows computer, so that anything that works on a PC – such as Skype, for example, will work with it.

The hardware is an enabler for Microsoft’s bigger play to become the dominant Mixed Reality platform
Share on X

Dong Yoon Park from BRDY Studios is one such developer. He adapted his existing iOS app for the HoloLens, turning what was originally a learning and teaching toolkit for typography into a visualisation platform that graphic designers such as himself can use to see how different lettering and fonts would look in 3D environments. This is particularly useful when designing signage, for instance.

This is not just about getting into the hands of tech enthusiasts
Share on X

“This is not just about getting into the hands of tech enthusiasts – that’s cool and we want to do it – but this is actually solving hard problems, doing really transformational things that you simply could not have done before. This technology is bringing deep levels of transformation and we’re seeing that in a number of areas.”

This technology is bringing deep levels of transformation and we’re seeing that in a number of areas
Share on X

Take building and architecture as an example. An Architect’s job involves constantly translating 3D concepts into 2D blueprints, then into 3D scale models to help clients visualise and sign off on the plans, to eventually become physical buildings. Yet the early partnership between HoloLens and Trimble shows how those concepts can be rendered into full-scale 3D holograms in real time, allowing professionals from all over the world to visualise and share those plans, just as they would look in the real world, making accurate adjustments before they ever break ground and saving enormous amounts of time, energy and money.

When you see these things and you bring them to life, you can learn in an entirely new visual way
Share on X

“I always think I could have gone to medical school had it not been for the having to learn through textbooks. When you see these things and you bring them to life, you can learn in an entirely new visual way,” says Leila Martine. After experiencing the demo of the HoloLens anatomy application (a pared-down version of what students at Case Western Reserve University use to do just that, I can certainly see her point.

Microsoft are also working with the NASA Kennedy Space Center
Share on X

Microsoft are also working with the NASA Kennedy Space Center on an experience that will be open to the public, as well as applications that will allow for greater collaboration between scientists. Meanwhile, some companies are also starting to roll out consumer trials. DIY retailer Lowe’s – the second largest hardware chain in the US – already offers a service in some of its stores which generates suggestions based on customers’ Pinterest feed. Those customers are then able to select holographic items from Lowe’s catalogue, see how they look in their own home, and interact in real-time with a sales rep who advises them while looking at the same things.

There are two main things which make these experiences work so seamlessly: The first is spatial mapping – the constant scanning of the environment that relays the positioning of objects in the surrounding environment, so the device can accurately and realistically place holograms around them.

The second is persistence, or world-locking. As I place my holograms around a physical environment, they don’t disappear once I remove my headset. If I bring a friend to that room 3 weeks later and she’s wearing a different HoloLens device, she’ll still be able to see the holograms in the exact places I left them.

Another important feature of the HoloLens is spatial sound
Share on X

What enables this world locking is the HoloLens’ HPU – Holographic Processing Unit. This, according to Martine, is a significant leap in technology, as current CPUs (Central Processing Units) and GPUs (Graphics Processing Units) were simply not up to the extreme complexity of processing real-time data from a multitude of different camera and infrared depth sensors.

Another important feature of the HoloLens is spatial sound, which emanates from two small red units built in on either side of the headset and is very effective at adding directional audio cues and building a soundscape that makes the holograms come to life. I rather liked the fact that this wasn’t done through headphones, as it ties into the ethos that these experiences are not about shutting out the world around you, only enhancing it.

The HoloLens demos all felt like real products addressing real needs
Share on X

Indeed, whereas most VR experiences out there have been pretty fun and/or showed great potential in all sorts of areas, the HoloLens demos all felt like real products addressing real needs, even the one which showcased a luxury watch from an entirely fictitious brand. The objective here was to demonstrate the potential of the technology for sales and marketing, specially in the luxury goods space.

The marketing applications for Mixed Reality are tremendous
Share on X

At one point in this experience I was shown a deconstructed view of the internal workings of the watch; I could walk around and look at each part closely as it floated in the space in front of me. Later, when I switched to Presenter Mode on the device, I had access to a heat map tool that showed me exactly which parts of that hologram attracted the most attention.

Where it comes to Mixed Reality, Microsoft shows that it really is Hip to Be Square.
Share on X

The marketing implications here are tremendous, as it’s the kind of thing that would eliminate the guesswork in terms of measuring audience engagement. If you can see where your potential customer’s gaze is drawn to and where it lingers the longest – something the HoloLens does automatically as it relies on eye tracking to work – then you can easily fine-tune that content for maximum impact.

As great as the practical stuff was, however, I still spent most of my fake-watch demo time happily gazing at a group of tiny holographic seagulls, flying over a fleet of tiny holographic sailing boats in a holographic ocean contained within that holographic watch. All of which were sitting on top of a perfectly ordinary table – which (weirdly) happened to be made out of real wood.

Considering that this is such an early-stage product, it’s very difficult not to be impressed, and there were only a couple of small niggles I could pick on: While gaze and voice worked seamlessly, the gesture commands took slightly more getting used to. Still, I mostly got it right on the first try, and under the helpful guidance of people like Colin I was able to make the necessary adjustments– such as remembering not to over-extend my arm or keep all but two fingers folded down as I did the quick air-tap motion that works as the equivalent of a mouse click. I can see how, as motion tracking technology improves, you will be able to use increasingly natural gestures to shape the world around you, and I’m really looking forward to doing some more flamboyant holographic spell-casting.

The HoloLens manages to be at once utterly practical, incredibly fun and more than a little bit sexy
Share on X

The other issue is that your holographic Field of View (FOV) is not wrap-around, but restricted to a rectangular area in front of your eye, which means that for larger holograms you have to move your head up and down to get the full picture, which breaks immersion slightly. That, however, feels very much like a bridging compromise in favour of texture and quality. I have a feeling that an expanded FOV will be on the cards for later iterations

The HoloLens manages to be at once utterly practical, incredibly fun and more than a little bit sexy, so my  My biggest niggle with it is simply that I can’t have one just yet.

And since I started this post with a 60’s song reference (those who failed to pick up on that should seriously brush up on Janis Joplin classics ) so I’ll finish with an 80s one: Where it comes to Mixed Reality, Microsoft shows that it really is Hip to Be Square.

Microsoft started shipping the HoloLens developer suite and commercial edition to the US and Canada back in March, and last week they opened pre-orders in the UK, France Germany, Australia, New Zealand and Ireland, which are expected to start getting their kits by the end of November.

For companies looking to get into VR/AR/MR our Virtual Reality Consultancy services offer guidance on how these technologies can enhance and support your brand strategy.

Alice Bonasio is a VR Consultant and Tech Trends’ Editor in Chief. She also regularly writes for Fast Company, Ars Technica, Quartz, Wired and others. Connect with her on LinkedIn and follow @alicebonasio and @techtrends_tech on Twitter.

The post Oh Lord, Won’t you Buy me a HoloLens? appeared first on Tech Trends.