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Community Download: Does Xbox Scarlett Need To Support VR?

Community Download: Does Xbox Scarlett Need To Support VR?

Community Download is a weekly discussion-focused articles series published every Monday (usually) in which we pose a single, core question to you all, our readers, in the spirit of fostering discussion and debate.

Today some rumors have started swirling that Microsoft plan to make the Oculus Rift S compatible with the upcoming new Xbox console, currently code named Project Scarlett. At E3 2019 Microsoft did not have a single thing to say about VR support at all, after previously backtracking VR support on the Xbox One X (previously code named Scorpio) and even altering the console’s website to remove mention of VR. Until we hear something from one of our sources, we’re not holding our breath. I wouldn’t advise taking today’s rumor as fact by any means — but it’s at least a good jumping off point for discussion.

Theoretically, this would be a great move. The Rift S has built-in tracking with its inside-out system that allows for a high-quality 6DOF headset and two 6DOF controllers. Although, support for a Windows Mixed Reality device (like the HP Reverb or Samsung Odyssey) would make more sense logistically since that’s running on the Microsoft ecosystem. Either choice would be solid for consumers though.

Consumer VR will be in the middle of its fifth year of existence by the time the Xbox Scarlett releases and Sony will be releasing or at least prepping the release of its second PSVR headset while Oculus, HTC, Valve, and the PC side of Microsoft all continue pushing their VR options forward.

So, the question at hand is this: Does Xbox Scarlett need to support VR? Does it make sense for them as a company by that point — if not, why not?

Let us know what you think down in the comments below!

Featured Image: Windows Central

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Microsoft Teases Minecraft AR, But Not For HoloLens 2

Microsoft Teases Minecraft AR, But Not For HoloLens 2

It looks like Minecraft is getting ready to take on Pokemon Go.

A new teaser trailer released by Microsoft this week basically confirms that Minecraft AR is in the works. The short clip sees someone pick up another person’s phone only to discover an AR version of the game. The unmistakable pixelated blocks line the floor of the real world and a pig trots around on them. Later two other virtual characters spot the player and run off.

You can also see Minecraft’s classic UI at the bottom of the screen. That, to us, suggests there will be elements of the original game in here, though to what extent remains to be seen. Will there be multiplayer support? If so, will other Minecraft players get to connect with those in AR? There’s certainly a lot of possibilities here.

It looks like the game is being played on an Android handset, though no release platforms have been confirmed.

It’s interesting to see this app teased for smartphones and not Microsoft’s latest AR hardware, HoloLens 2. Minecraft was initially used to promote a world of possibilities with the first HoloLens. Since then, though, Microsoft has skewed the platform off to be an enterprise-level device. Turns out most Minecraft fans probably don’t want to pay $3,500 to see the game in AR.

Smartphones, meanwhile, have become the home of early VR. Pokemon Go was a huge success and now everyone, including developer Niantic, is trying to replicate that by bringing other brands to AR.

We won’t have long to wait to find out more about Minecraft AR, at least. The video tells everyone to ‘Tune in’ on May 17. That’s a week on Friday.

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A Closer Look At What Microsoft’s SeeingVR Offers The Visually Impaired

microsoft visually impaired VR research

Microsoft Reseach, in partnership with Cornell University, developed a range of techniques to make virtual reality accessible to the visually impaired.

VR is a heavily visual medium. Most VR apps and games assume the user has full visual ability. But just like in real life, some users in virtual environments are visually impaired. In the real world a range of measures are taken to accommodate such users, but in VR no effort has yet been made.

The researchers came up with 14 specific tools to tackle this problem. They are delivered as engine plugins for Unity. Of these tools, 9 do not require specific developer effort. For the remaining 5, the developer of each app needs to undertake some effort to support them.

It’s estimated that around 200 million people worldwide are visually impaired. If Microsoft plans to release these tools as engine plugins, it could make a huge difference in these user’s ability to use virtual reality. For VR to succeed as a medium it must accommodate everyone.

Automatic Tools

Magnification Lens: Mimicking the most common Windows OS visual accessibility tool, the magnification lens magnifies around half of the user’s field of view by 10x.

Bifocal Lens: Much the same as bifocal glasses in the real world, this tool adds a smaller but persistent magnification near the bottom of the user’s vision. This allows for constant spatial awareness while still enabling reading at a distance.

Brightness Lens: Some people have different brightness sensitivity, so this tool allows the user to adjust the brightness of the image all the way from 50% to 500% to make out details.

Contrast Lens: Similar to the Brightness Lens, this tool lets the user modify the contrast so that low contrast details can be made out. It is an adjustable scale from 1 to 10.

Edge Enhancement: A more sophisticated way to achieve the goal of the Contrast Lens, this tool detects visible edges based on depth and outlines them.

Peripheral Remapping: This tool is for people without peripheral vision. It uses the same edge detection technique as Edge Enhancement but shows the edges as an overlay in the center of the user’s field of view, giving them spatial awareness.

Text Augmentation: This tool automatically changes all text to white or black (whichever is most appropriate) and changes the font to Arial. The researchers claim Arial is proven to be more readable. The user can also change the text to bold or increase the size.

Text to Speech: This tool gives the user a virtual laser pointer. Whichever text they point at will be read aloud using speech synthesis technology.

Depth Measurement: For people with depth perception issues, this tool adds a ball to the end of the laser pointer, which lets them easily see the distance they are pointing to.

Tools Requiring Developer Effort

Object Recognition: Just like “alt text” on images on the 2D web, this tool reads aloud the description of virtual objects the user is pointing at (using speech synthesis).

Highlight: Users with vision issues may struggle to find the relevant objects in a game scene. By simply highlighting them in the same way as Edge Enhancement, this tool lets those users find the way in games.

Guideline: This tool works alongside Highlight. When the user isn’t looking at the relevant objects, Guideline draws arrows pointing towards them.

Recoloring: For users with very serious vision problems, this tool recolors the entire scene to simple colors.

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Zero Latency’s Free-Roam VR To Use HP Headsets And Microsoft Tracking

Zero Latency HP Headset VR Microsoft Windows Mixed Reality

VR company Zero Latency is planning to roll out future locations with HP headsets running Microsoft’s inside-out tracking system.

That’s a big technological shift for the Australia-based VR company. Zero Latency supplies operators with VR headsets, backpacks, management software, services and games to run a large-scale multi-user VR attraction. The company first deployed a modified version of the HDK 2 open source headset project. They also built a large-scale positional tracking system “out of need.”

In February, I tried the 1st generation system in a play through at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. I noted sway to the tracking with sub-par visuals overall compared with mainstream headsets like Oculus Rift and HTC Vive.

Zero Latency CEO Tim Ruse and CTO Scott Vandonkelaar spoke with me over video call about their second generation system. Leaders at the company are trying to grow communities of competitive gamers at their locations in 2019. They believe Microsoft’s tracking system in HP headsets will provide a generally superior experience at a much lower price to operators ($350K down to $200K).

We have yet to try the system which Ruse says they are trialing in Australia now before rolling out to more locations worldwide in the coming months.

1st Generation

Zero Latency’s original system is reminiscent of PlayStation VR. It uses backpacks combined with overhead cameras which Zero Latency said relied on their custom computer vision technology. OptiTrack — the technology deployed in several other VR attractions — was too expensive, they explained on the call. The stages have very dim lighting.

My only other experience with OSVR was awful, so it is downright impressive what Zero Latency did improving upon this base system without the help of OptiTrack, Microsoft, Google or Facebook. The company first opened its large-scale space in 2015 and say they rolled out more than two dozen venues with this system over the last few years.

Zero Latency’s software provide the virtual worlds to visit. Accompanying services provide leaderboards and emails sharing the results the moment a match finishes. Hardware-wise, though, this system is dated compared with consumer-grade hardware deployed in attractions by companies like Dreamscape Immersive, Spaces and The VOID.

2nd Generation

Ruse said they would launch the second generation system with HP headsets in the coming months. Initially, the system would use HP’s first generation PC VR headset. A second generation HP headset would supplant it in the coming months, according to the company.

The stages will be brightly lit to assist with the on-board inside-out positional tracking provided by Microsoft’s Windows-based system. In the video below you can see how the Windows controller is attached to Zero Latency’s gun accessory for tracking.

Marrying Microsoft’s tracking system with Zero Latency’s software and services may be a pretty compelling combination. Technically speaking, Ruse said they see nothing blocking them from deploying their existing software and services on the new hardware with each player providing their own tracking and movements synced up between them over the local network.

Zero Latency’s 1st generation system already includes alerts to let you know when you’re approaching an actual person or physical barrier. Along with the guns used in Zero Latency’s experiences, we’ll be curious to see how everything works in the new system as well as the overall effect on accuracy and competitive gampeplay.

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Microsoft Hosting Mixed Reality Dev Days For HoloLens 2 Developers

HoloLens 2 MWC hands-on

We’ve tried HoloLens 2 and we kind of love it. In a few months’ time, Microsoft will let even more people test it out.

The company this week announced Mixed Reality Dev Days. Mixed reality is Microsoft’s semi-confusing term the covers everything from HoloLens to its VR headsets made with partners. Running on May 2nd and 3rd 2019, this event will welcome developers to Microsoft’s Redmond Campus. There they’ll get hands-on time with HoloLens 2 along with other MWC announcements like Azure mixed reality services, Azure Kinect Developer Kit and, in the company’s words, “more”.

The event will be feedback-focused, Microsoft is looking for impressions on its latest offerings and ideas on how to improve them.

Interestingly, the show takes place just a few days before Microsoft’s annual Build developer conference kicks off. We’d expect to see more MR updates at the show. We’ll also be interested to see if Microsoft has anything else to share on the MR front at GDC next month.

Tickets to the Dev Days won’t be free but pricing hasn’t been announced just yet. You can sign up to the company’s developer program to get an alert for when the invites go out.

HoloLens 2 is set to come out later this year. The AR headset improves upon the original device with a bigger field of view, improved interaction and better design. When I tried it at MWC this week I found one of the first AR headsets I could actually see myself using on a day-to-day basis. It’s an enterprise-level device (starting at $3,500) so not something that game developers will be looking to embrace.

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HoloLens 2’s Field of View Confirmed

microsoft hololens 2

At MWC yesterday Microsoft announced the $3500 HoloLens 2 augmented reality headset. On stage the company boasted the headset’s “more than 2x” field of view compared to the original. However, no specific values were given.

Today on Twitter Microsoft’s Alex Kipman clarified the details. The headset provides 52 degrees of augmented viewing when measured diagonally, according to Kipman. Given that the Microsoft website states the headset’s aspect ratio is 3:2, this would give a horizontal FoV of 43° and a vertical of 29° using the basic Pythagorean theorem.

That 43°×29° is an impressive increase over the 30°×17.5° of the original. It’s now roughly equal to the 40°×30° of the $2295 Magic Leap One.

But how is this “more than 2x” the field of view of the original, you might ask? Well it seems Microsoft was referring to the total FoV area — not the per-axis measurements. A 43°×29° FoV is actually around 2.4x the area of 30°×17.5°.

This is an impressive leap forward and will make holographic objects feel much more immersive than before. But in perspective, it is still significantly narrower than even a typical VR headset. There is also a ways to go before either AR or VR headsets are capable of filling the entirety of human vision.

HoloLens 2 is the state of the art in augmented reality — using a custom designed laser MEMS display system. However AR technology still has a long way to go before becoming consumer friendly. Just like VR 10 years ago, AR will need several breakthroughs before it is truly ready for consumers. But based on what Microsoft showed us at MWC, we’ve never been more excited for AR’s future.

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Microsoft’s $399 Azure Kinect Development Kit Now Available For Pre-Order

Microsoft’s $399 Azure Kinect Development Kit Now Available For Pre-Order

Microsoft detailed a new version of its Kinect depth sensing device — now called Azure Kinect — in connection with its HoloLens 2 announcement.

Microsoft executives in Barcelona, Spain today for Mobile World Congress revealed the $3,500 HoloLens 2 augmented reality headset. The new standalone AR headset promises a big step forward in functionality from the original device, which launched in 2016. Alongside this reveal, Microsoft opened pre-orders for its Azure Kinect DK at $399.

Orders placed now should start shipping by June 27, according to the Microsoft website, when “new SDKs will be available.”

Azure Kinect DK

To be clear, the new device isn’t a consumer product or replacement for the Xbox version of Kinect. The original motion-sensing gadget made quite the splash when it released in 2010. Interest faded quickly, though, and developers stopped making games for Kinect.

Instead, Microsoft positions the new Azure Kinect as a developer kit. The system features a 1 megapixel depth sensor, 7 microphone array, 12 megapixels RGB video camera and inertial sensors for spatial and orientation tracking. One big selling point for developers could be the “External sync pins to easily synchronize sensor streams from multiple Kinects simultaneously.” That means it should be possible to arrange Kinects in large arrays for larger-scale data collection. Microsoft says the device doesn’t need a cloud service to operate. It can be combined, however, with “Azure services to enable complete solutions.”

Microsoft pursues a wide range of VR and AR technologies. The company’s 3D capture studios, for example, produce detailed scans of real world performers. Unfortunately, these capture studios are only in major cities and require time and money to use. Could new depth-sensing systems like Azure Kinect one day be used to provide similar capture areas in many more places? Right now we don’t know what quality of capture might be possible with multiple Azure Kinects. Nonetheless, we’ll be curious to see what developers end up doing with an array of these sensors viewing a single space.

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Microsoft Reveals Second Generation HoloLens AR Headset

hololens 2 microsoft

Microsoft unveiled the second generation of its standalone HoloLens AR headset at a press conference in Barcelona, Spain.

HoloLens is a self-contained standalone augmented reality headset. It consists of see-through optics which seem to project virtual images into the real world. HoloLens 2 features enhanced field of view, “fully articulated hand tracking” and better comfort overall, according to Microsoft.

This story is developing and we’ll update as we get more details.

 

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HoloLens 2 Leak Gives Us Our First Look – Report

Microsoft HoloLens 2 Leak

We’re up bright and early to get to Barcelona for Microsoft’s MWC 2019 event today. Forgive any typos – we’re really tired. But a supposed HoloLens 2 leak may give us an early peak at what to expect.

Twitter user WalkingCat has posted supposed images of HoloLens 2. There’s no source for the information right now so take it with a grain of salt, but we’ll know whether it’s fake or not in a few hours.

In terms of design, it definitely looks smaller and sleeker than the original HoloLens, though not by much. WalkingCat doesn’t have any specs to go with the images. We’re expecting an improved field of view (FOV) at the very least, though. The leakster says to also expect videos of the kit later on in the day.

HoloLens is an AR headset that projects virtual objects into the real world via see-through lenses. The first edition of the device has been available as a developer edition for the past few years. We wouldn’t expect this one to be a consumer-level kit either.

Most importantly, we’ll be interested to see how HoloLens 2 stacks up next to Magic Leap One. That much-anticipated AR headset launched late last year as a Creator Edition. It’s relatively comparable to the original HoloLens specs, so Microsoft has a chance to leapfrog it here.

Microsoft’s event kicks off at 5pm CET. Expect Technical Fellow Alex Kipman to take the stage to talk about the big update. After that we’ll hopefully have a chance to try it for ourselves.

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Microsoft Is Bringing Its HoloLens AR Apps To iOS And Android

Microsoft Is Bringing Its HoloLens AR Apps To iOS And Android

Microsoft’s Mixed Reality ecosystem is soon to expand to another platform – smartphones.

The company announced this week that it’s bringing apps previously designed for HoloLens to iOS and Android. HoloLens is Microsoft’s AR headset. You slip on a pair of glasses that project virtual objects into the real world. The tech uses positional tracking to allow you to walk around and view virtual images as if they were physical objects. When the tech was first revealed in 2015 it was pretty revolutionary.

But, as time has moved on, everyday smartphones have become increasingly capable of doing what HoloLens does through their screens. Android’s ARCore and iOS’ ARKit both bring convincing AR to phones. To that end, Microsoft will soon publish Dynamics 365 Product Visualize as an iOS preview and Dynamics 365 Remote Assist as an Android preview.

Product Visualize is essentially a 3D model viewer. It lets sellers project their products into real-world spaces. It’s like that classic AR use case of projecting a virtual couch into the corner of your room before you buy the real one.

Remote Assist, meanwhile, is another much-touted use case. It allows people to call remote experts when using complex machinery. The expert is able to give on-screen instructions and walk you through the process.

Microsoft didn’t provide release dates for either app. Both are designed for professional use.

And, no, you shouldn’t take this is a sign that HoloLens itself is in trouble. In fact, we’re expecting Microsoft to announce HoloLens 2 at MWC in Barcelona next week. We’ll be there to check it out.

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