Unity is the power behind a lot of virtual reality (VR) titles. It supports apps for Google’s Cardboard and Daydream headsets, as well as being the engine behind many top Oculus Rift and HTC Vive Games. New from Vision Summit, though, indicate that Microsoft and its partners are also keen on using Unity.
Microsoft Principal Group Manager Brandon Bray announced during the summit that 91% of applications that are available for Microsoft’s Mixed Reality headset, the HoloLens, are made with the Unity engine. Not only that, but also that Mixed Reality will soon be supported natively on Unity in order to take advantage of the upcoming Acer MR headsets coming later this year.
That wasn’t the only news out of the Vision Summit, though. Google product manager Nathan Martz said that Google Daydream will be getting an update sometime in May 2017 that will allow VR creators to test VR and AR changes to their applications in just minutes, much improving on the current testing workflow.
The big news was that Google Tango was now integrated into the Unity engine, allowing for a smoother experience when creating augmented reality (AR) apps for Tango-powered devices. As a demonstration of the new capabilities, Tango and Vuforia Smart Terrain transformed the stage into Mars, then called on a virtual drone along with an astronaut to explore the environment and discover ice. The experience shown on stage will form part of the Vuforia app when Vuforia is integrated into Unity, which is expected to happen later this year.
VRFocus will continue to bring you new from VR-related events.
Kicking off into May 2017. Lots to see! Vfx-Conference FMX running in Stuttgart right now, animayo with dedicated parts to Mixed Reality world in Las Palmas, Unity Vision VR/AR Summit just ended a day ago! Neat. Unity team continues to position themselves in the AR/VR space nicely. Facebook Spaces is all done in Unity, native integration of Tango will follow in Unity! Yesterday Microsoft presented some more on MR in a New York event yesterday, including MR and the Hololens. Let’s take a brief look on their news today.
Microsoft showed off some fun stuff out of scope here, but they also presented the next update for Windows 10 – while the Creators Update is still being rolled out for some of us. A new update should seamlessly integrate a mixed reality viewer into Windows 10! They present it by editing the NASA rover in 3D in Windows and then placing it using a regular tablet / laptop webcam on stage. The markerless tracking seems to work well – but is only shown really, really short. But the bigger news is that Microsoft is already establishing a solid pipeline (so it seems) for full 3D and MR integration into their world. The new and upcoming MR device from Acer is shown as well, diving into a 3D solar system representation in Virtual Reality.
The new mode “view mixed reality” in Windows 10 can be seen in the middle of the clip recorded by The Verge. Microsoft is further pushing towards an easy access and easy creation of 3D content approach. The Paint3D was being laughed at recently – but honestly, this boils it down perfectly to the core idea of things. Their nice marketing videos make us believe it, I know. I’m not falling for that. But the idea is to make 3D and MR content creation as easy as 2D painting in Windows. What will this enable?
The Future of Education and Society
If everyone could create content as easy as a quick and simple 2D painting or a website (using whatever CMS) or a facebook profile page, we reach new access to digital data. If a next generation is used to it as we are being used to taking pictures with our mobile or writing text messages and surfing the web, what will this enable and change? What are the dangers?
No, well, let’s not talk about dangers again today. The biggest dangers are as always dumbing down our brains, handing over our decision making processes and memories over to a machine (and a company of our choice), becoming dependent and addicted. Become (further) enslaved by the companies that hold our data and allow access to our beloved mixed reality. Entry is not for free. Open standards? Don’t see them coming yet. But let’s take a look at the bright side!
If content creation is so easy, what could everyone do with it? If the process is dumbed down to the level of writing a Word file – many more people will use it. Who? Microsoft (and other companies) show nice marketing videos of a future with MR:
The learning in the future is presented by different demos. The well known anatomy / skeleton demo for biology class is shown, the 3D periodic table as one simple example of chemistry. A physics visualizer shows fields of magnetism (so it seems), a laser and mirror game presents the concept of reflection angles. The (for me) best demo I’ve seen: a quick snippet of a trumpet player wearing a Hololens, the notes to play scrolling by before his eyes!
Overall the message is clear. We must adapt to support a 21st century education approach and get the next generation playfully ready to work with the new media. We will move from books to mixed reality, 3D chalkboards could support presentation of data way better, diving into a solar system would just be more fun and visual in 3D and VR than it is in a boring dusty book, where scale of planets is off, where nothing moves, where imagination would need to take place.
This could be the only criticism to state: it’s not always good to present all as is in 1:1 scale and with realistic looks. Sometimes we need to go abstract from the presentation and let our brains work, fill the gaps and extrapolate and think about it – not just looking at it. Yeah yeah, I know, quote – I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand – unquote. It makes sense to experience things better – sometimes. Sometimes it’s just a gimmick. We must focus on the part where it really makes sense. I don’t want many more marketing videos to destroy really useful scenarios and let the companies burn and burry the potential. Let’s create concepts that make sense. A 2D periodic table on the Hololens does not make sense at all – unless you underlay additional interactive information. Let’s build colaborative experiences where we learn better together.
The video shows it nicely. Damn, rich school! I would want to be a student there. Everybody-gets-a-Hololens day as it seems! How will learing processes change if all have slimmer, smaller MR glasses in their pockets? Will it remain a 1st world luxury fun thing in the 10s and 20s of the 21st century? The new devices, if spread democratically and access is easy, could enable so much more. Potential is big. Hey, can’t wait to see more. Maybe the metaverse only is 3 years away as Epic’s Tim Sweeney stated recently. Can’t wait to dive deeper into it. :-)
Netflix ist bereits für die Gear VR und für Google Daydream verfügbar, doch die virtuelle Realität reicht dem Streaming-Giganten nicht aus. Das Unternehmen möchte auch bei Augmented Reality vorne mitmischen und ein aktuelles Stellenangebot weist auf die Entwicklung einer Netflix Anwendung für die HoloLens von Microsoft hin.
Netflix HoloLens App geplant
Das Unternehmen sucht aktuell einen Windows Senior Software Engineer und schreibt, dass dieser an einer App für Windows arbeiten soll, welche am PC und am Laptop, auf Tablets und Smartphones und mit der HoloLens und VR Brillen verwendet werden kann. Ein Sprecher von Netflix hat zudem mitgeteilt, dass das Unternehmen an einem einfachen Support für die HoloLens arbeite. Aktuell gibt es aber kein Datum für eine Veröffentlichung.
Microsoft hatte zwar in den letzten Jahren auch Demos mit einer Netflix App gezeigt, jedoch war hierbei nicht klar, ob es sich bei dem Logo nur um ein mögliches Beispiel von Microsoft handelte. Mit dem heutigen Statement von Netflix herrscht jedoch Klarheit.
Mit einer Mixed Reality App von Netflix könntet ihr in der Zukunft vielleicht euren Fernseher ersetzen, denn ihr packt einfach die entsprechende Leinwand in eure HoloLens, Magic Leap oder Apple Glasses und platziert die Netflix App direkt an eurer Wohnzimmerwand neben der Ikea Schrank App für 99 Cent.
It has become apparent as the virtual reality (VR) field has grown that videogames would only be one small part of the sector, and that applications for business, education and industry would make up a much larger proportion of the applications for VR, augmented reality (AR) and mixed reality (MR). Accordingly HoloLens is being applied to the function of property and facilities management.
The HoloLens is forming part of a pilot program between Microsoft and Trimble that will allow corporate real estate owners and facilities management to try out the new technology and see how it will benefit from functions such as visualisation of maintenance workflows, the overlay of data relevant to physical objects and building information modelling. Brookfield GIS is one of the first companies to apply the technology with their Building Digital Workplace Virtual Lab.
“We are excited to be collaborating with Brookfield GIS to explore technologies that will profoundly impact the future of the workplace,” said David George, general manager of Trimble’s Real Estate and Workplace Solutions. “The Building Digital Workplace Virtual Lab is an innovative way to work closely with clients to test new technologies such as the HoloLens in real-life scenarios for facilities and property management. This approach provides a collaborative forum that brings diverse thinking and a holistic approach to solving our clients’ operational challenges.
“The rapid expansion and uptake of digital and smart workplace solutions means that employees are no longer defined by a purely physical space, and can instead function as agile teams with a digital readiness that was not previously possible,” said Jon McCormick, president and managing director Brookfield GIS Asia Pacific. “Together with Trimble, we have the opportunity to explore intelligent solutions for the workplaces of the future.”
Other companies such as Vuzix and its business partners are also looking at applying VR/AR technology to industry, such as for stock management and quality control.
VRFocus will bring you further news on the HoloLens and other industry applications for VR and AR.
Brandon Bray, Principal Program Manager at Microsoft, took the stage at Unity’s Vision VR/AR Summit 2017 to show a little more of what Microsoft has planned for the VR side of things when the first Windows Holographic headsets come later this year. And to wit, Microsoft is giving away a free Acer Windows VR headset to everyone present at today’s Unity Vision VR/AR Summit.
After reporting to the crowd that currently 91 percent of the ‘holographic’ apps built for Windows headsets (including HoloLens) were constructed using the Unity game engine, Bray showed off an app that looks uncannily similar to something you might see in a HoloLens demonstration, but this time entirely virtual in nature and intended for the fleet of Windows-centric headsets coming later in 2017.
Called Cliff House, the virtual home is meant to act as a showcase for the Windows operating system as imagined in virtual reality. According to Bray, it allows you to place and arrange your apps around the space where you can create a number of customized areas like a gaming basement, a productivity room or an entertainment hub on the balcony overlooking a mountainous landscape—essentially mirroring the HoloLens usecase of choosing which Windows apps you want to use and sticking them around your house.
“Mixed reality allows me to place a hologram in a room, and walk around it, interact with it, and engage with it as if it were really there. It also allows me to take objects, people and places from the real world and bring them into the digital world and create entirely new experiences,” said Bray speaking about the capabilities of the Microsoft HoloLens.
As we’ve seen it today, Cliff House is almost entirely copying the HoloLens usecase of app-centric spaces. Without the power of gesture recognition, it’ll be interesting to see if these apps hold the same level of usability when used within a VR headset, and if they can ultimately foster he sort of ‘productivity room’ Microsoft envisions.
According to a Windows Central hands-on with Cliff House, you move around the virtual home using the Xbox One controller. Windows Central reports that the VR-capable Windows 10 UI and shell are “very much like HoloLens but a little more polished.” Gaze-based interactions control the UI and locomotion is achieved via teleportation, the report says.
image courtesy Unity Technologies
The Acer-built Windows Holographic headset is one of the first to arrive, with similar headsets coming from Asus, Dell, HP, Lenovo and 3Glasses later in 2017, and Microsoft wants to tap further into the Unity dev community by giving away a free Acer headset to all participants at Unity VR/AR Summit, arriving in the summer. Audience members will receive more detail on their free Acer headset sometime in June.
Windows Holographic VR headset users will reportedly gain access to more than 20,000 UWP (universal Windows platform) apps in the catalog, along with 3D objects from the web using Microsoft Edge to drag and drop into their physical world. Immersive WebVR content via Microsoft Edge and 360 degree videos will also be available in the Movies & TV app.
Tech manufacturer Acer are one or the firms that Microsoft has partnered with to create its new line of virtual reality head-mounted displays (HMDs) for its Windows 10 operating system. Acer are one of the first to have a prototype of their headset ready for testing.
Microsoft claim that one of the top reasons for returns of VR headsets to Microsoft Stores is due to the complexity of the set up, multiple cameras, trackers and wires can be a bit of a muddle for some users. CNet managed to get hands-on with one of the early versions of the Acer device and noted that, in comparison, it is designed to be simply plug-and-play. The HMDs are designed to work with the new Creators Update which has recently been rolled out to Windows 10 devices and will use the Microsoft app store to purchase and download, though will mean that Oculus Rift and HTC Vive apps will not be compatible.
The Acer device uses inside-out tracking for six degrees of freedom, which means no extra boxes or trackers are necessary, all the required hardware is contained within the headset. A standard controller is currently needed to control things such as movement and selection, with no word yet on if the devices will support any form of motion controller. Curiously, Microsoft are referring to the new range of headsets as mixed reality (MR) and not VR, which in theory means that apps designed to work with the more expensive HoloLens should also work with this range of devices, though how the reality mixing would work has not yet been explained.
The early development kit has some problems however; ambient light can affect how the tracking works and cause the screen to black out. It is expected that they will be ironed out before the expected release for Christmas 2017. The Acer HMD is expected to be priced at around $300 (USD), cheaper than the HTC Vive and Oculus Rift. Similar devices from Lenovo and HP are expected to be released commercially at around the same time.
VRFocus will bring you further information on the Acer HMD and other VR hardware when it becomes available.
While Microsoft’s mixed reality (MR) head-mounted display (HMD), HoloLens, may only be focused at enterprise and priced well out of the range of casual consumers, the company has been nurturing partnerships to bring more apps to the device. The latest comes from Theorem Solutions in the form of Visualization Experience, an app designed for engineering and manufacturing.
The app allows a user to holographically see design data, providing a new way to understand the information presented. To begin with, Theorem Solutions provides a number of different sets of engineering data for users to access and experience the app, showcasing a number of different use cases.
The Visualization Experience app is free to download from the Microsoft app Store. It requires a few details for validation: Name, Company Name and a valid email address. After which Theorem will unlock a 90 day trial of the software for the user. During this trial period they’ll then have the option to upgrade to the full subscription license allowing them to load their own engineering and manufacturing CAD and PLM data where it is automatically optimized for use in the Microsoft HoloLens.
Theorem Solutions will then stream the data in the Visualization Experience allowing the user to interact and engage with their data, so they can freely walk around it and manipulate it all with their voice and hand gestures.
Visualization Experience is another example of HoloLens’ multiple use cases for business and why organisations like NASA utilise the technology for multiple purposes. VRFocus will continue its coverage of Microsoft HoloLens, reporting back with the latest updates.
Developer Lucas Rizzotto has created CyberSnake, a free game for Microsoft HoloLens. As explained in the game’s launch video (above), the game is inspired by the 2D Snake arcade game, moved into a mixed reality environment, and played in first person.
Originally found in various arcade games in the 1970s, and famously used by Nokia in their mobile phones from the late 1990s, the maze game known as ‘Snake’ was simple and addictive. There were a few variations, but it usually involved growing a tail by eating dots, with the objective to grow as long as possible without bumping into your own tail.
Photo courtesy Lucas Rizzotto
In the case of CyberSnake, you wear a HoloLens and move around your real space, playing as the snake from a first-person view. ‘CyberBurgers’ appear in the air, which you have to ‘eat’ with your head, growing your ‘CyberTail’. By using HoloLens’ spatial mapping, the game maintains the position of the tail in 3D space, even when you aren’t looking at it, and as the tail grows, it becomes an increasingly difficult obstacle to avoid. And no, this time it isn’t an April Fool’s joke.
Photo courtesy Lucas Rizzotto
To enhance the gameplay, powerups can be used, one of which is summoned by saying the phrase ‘believe in your dreams’ (what else!), which collects nearby CyberBurgers and can strategically blow up parts of your tail to make it shorter. The developer provided some additional gameplay details on his Facebook page, confirming that you can move over or under the tail, and your body is allowed to pass through, as long as your head doesn’t collide with it.
The game can also differentiate a sofa from other objects, sometimes allowing burgers to be placed in a way that makes you climb over it, but never for any other furniture; there is always a burger placed in a position where you aren’t forced to climb anything.
CyberSnake is Rizzotto’s second app created for HoloLens on the Microsoft Store, the first being MyLab, an augmented reality chemistry app that places a periodic table in 3D space, where the user can spawn atoms, study their structure and combine them to make molecules.
Die Virtual Reality Industrie wächst täglich und etliche Unternehmen möchten ein Stück von der Virtual Reality Zukunft abhaben. Die einzelnen VR Brillen konnten bereits eigene Fangruppen hinter sich vereinen und so stolpert man nicht selten über Beiträge, die sich damit auseinandersetzen, warum die eigene VR Brille deutlich besser sei als die, die man nicht gekauft hat. Doch Fans sind häufig drastischer als die Verantwortlichen und wer glaubt, dass Microsoft und Sony nicht über ihre Pläne sprechen, der liegt weit daneben.
Phil Spencer findet das VR Team von Sony großartig
In einem Interview mit Gamasutra hat Phil Spencer, Leiter der Xbox Abteilung, gesagt, dass Microsoft das PlayStation VR Team eingeladen habe, damit sich das Team die HoloLens von Microsoft und entsprechenden Mixed Reality Content anschauen könne. Dasselbe ist wohl umgekehrt passiert und auch das Xbox Team von Microsoft hat der PlayStation VR Abteilung einen Besuch abgestattet, um sich über die anstehenden und aktuellen Möglichkeiten auszutauschen. Solche Treffen sollen künftig auch weiterhin stattfinden und Spencer sagt außerdem, dass Valve ebenfalls nur einen Steinwurf weit entfernt von Microsoft sei und dass die VR Abteilungen lieber zusammen als gegeneinander arbeiten.
Dass die VR Szene auf Zusammenhalt setzt, ist dabei nicht wirklich neu. Interessant an der Aussage von Spencer ist aber die Tatsache, dass sich Sony und Microsoft arrangieren, obwohl natürlich beide Unternehmen mit ihren Konsolen in einem harten Konkurrenzkampf stecken, denn beide Unternehmen wollen möglichst viele Konsolen in die Wohnzimmer bringen. Im Moment hat die PS4 noch den großen Vorteil, dass sie die einzige Konsole auf dem Markt ist, die auch mit einer VR Brille genutzt werden kann. Dieser Umstand wird sich aber zum Ende des Jahres ändern, wenn Microsoft seine Xbox Scorpio auf den Markt bringen wird, welche deutlich mehr Leistung als die PS4 Pro von Sony besitzt.
