Windows Holographic

A depiction of a Microsoft HoloLens user navigating Windows Holographic, with an application window on the left, and the Holographic Start menu on the right.

Windows Holographic is a "mixed reality"[1] computing platform,[2] enabling applications in which the live presentation of physical real-world elements is incorporated with that of virtual elements (referred to as "holograms" by Microsoft[3][4][5][note 1]) such that they are perceived to exist together in a shared environment. A variant of Windows for augmented reality computers[1] (which augment a real-world physical environment with virtual elements[3]) Windows Holographic features an augmented-reality operating environment in which any Universal Windows App can run. In addition, with Holographic APIs, which are part of the Universal Windows Platform, and supported as standard in Windows 10 (including versions for mobile devices and Xbox One), mixed reality features can be readily implemented in any Universal Windows App, for a wide range of Windows 10-based devices.[6][note 2]

Microsoft announced Windows Holographic at its "Windows 10: The Next Chapter" press event on January 21, 2015.[7] It is set to be introduced through the smart glasses headset Microsoft HoloLens, as part of the general rollout of Windows 10. The Windows 10 launch began July 29, 2015 with release of the PC version, with the Microsoft HoloLens Development Edition to be released in the first quarter of 2016.[8][9]

Microsoft HoloLens

The premier device for Windows Holographic,[1] Microsoft HoloLens is a smart-glasses headset that is a cordless, self-contained Windows 10 computer. It uses advanced sensors, a high-definition stereoscopic 3D optical head-mounted display, and spatial sound to allow for augmented reality applications, with a natural user interface that the user interacts with through gaze, voice, and hand gestures.[10][11][12] Codenamed "Project Baraboo," HoloLens had been in development for five years before its announcement in 2015, but was conceived earlier as the original pitch made in late 2007 for what would become the Kinect technology platform.[12][13]

Microsoft has targeted HoloLens for release "in the Windows 10 timeframe," with the Microsoft HoloLens Development Edition to begin shipping in the first quarter of 2016, available by application to developers in the United States and Canada for a list price of US$3000.[7][14] Companies such as Samsung Electronics and Asus had expressed interest in working with Microsoft to produce their own mixed-reality products based on HoloLens.[15][16]

Design

The Microsoft HoloLens design is of a visor glasses unit connected to an adjustable padded inner headband. The unit can be tilted up and down, as well as adjusted forward and backward in relation to the headband.[17] To wear the HoloLens, the user uses an adjustment wheel at the back of the headband to secure it around the crown of their head, supporting the weight of the unit.[18] The user then tilts the visor down in front of the eyes.[17] The release version of HoloLens is projected to weigh around 0.4 kg.[12]

In the brow of the unit is much of the sensors and related hardware, including depth sensors, photo/video camera, and holographic processing unit. The visor front is tinted;[18] enclosed in the visor piece is a pair of transparent combiner lenses, in which the projected images are displayed in the lower half.[1] The HoloLens must be calibrated to the interpupillary distance (IPD) of the individual user.[19][20]

Along the bottom edges of the side arms by wearer's ears are a pair of small red stereo speakers. As opposed to headphones, the speakers do not obstruct external sound, allowing the user to hear virtual sounds together with the real-world environment.[18] Using scientific models of human sound localization, the HoloLens generates binaural audio, which can simulate spatial effects, such that the user can perceive a sound as coming from a specific location.[21][note 3]

On the top edge are two pairs of buttons: display brightness buttons above the left ear, and volume buttons above the right ear.[22] Adjacent buttons are shaped differently—one concave, one convex—so that the user can distinguish them by touch.[17]

At the end of the left arm is a power button and row of five tiny LEDs, which together are used to indicate system status, as well as for power management, indicating battery level and setting power/standby mode.[17] A micro USB receptacle for charging is located along the bottom edge.[18]

Hardware

Among the sensor types used in HoloLens is an energy-efficient depth camera with a 120°×120° angle of view,[13][note 4] a microphone array, a photographic video camera, and an inertial measurement unit (IMU). The inertial measurement unit includes an accelerometer, gyroscope, and a magnetometer.[21]

In addition to a high-end CPU and GPU, HoloLens features a holographic processing unit (HPU),[23] a custom coprocessor by Microsoft. The HPU processes and integrates data from the sensors—handling tasks such as spatial mapping, gesture recognition, and voice and speech recognition.[1][21][note 5] According to HoloLens chief inventor Alex Kipman, the HPU processes "terabytes of information" from the HoloLens's sensors in real time.[6]

The combiner lenses of the HoloLens consist of three layers—for blue, green, and red[note 6]—each with diffractive features.[note 7] A "light engine" above the combiner lens projects light into the lens, a wavelength that then hits a diffractive element and reflects repeatedly along a layer until it is output to the eye.[note 8][12] Similar to that of many other optical head-mounted displays,[24] the display projection for the HoloLens occupies a limited portion of the user's field of view (FOV), particularly in comparison to virtual reality head-mounted displays, which typically cover a much greater field of view.[25][26][27][28][4][22][29] Based on preliminary hardware, most observers have characterized the field of view of the HoloLens as small, though subjective estimates vary significantly.[24][27][30][31] From the Build 2015 developer conference in May, one attendee estimated that the display field of view of the demonstration units was 30°×17.5°.[28] In an interview at the 2015 Electronic Entertainment Expo in June, Microsoft corporate vice president of next-gen experiences Kudo Tsunoda indicated that the field of view is unlikely to be significantly different on release.[32]

The HoloLens contains an internal rechargeable battery. Battery life has been estimated at 5½ hours for activities such as word processing and e-mail, and 2½ hours for activities with more computationally intensive workloads such as rendering.[33]

Applications

As of 2015, a number of Windows Holographic applications have been showcased or announced, centered around Microsoft HoloLens. These include:

Developed in collaboration with NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), OnSight integrates data from the Curiosity rover into a 3D simulation of the Martian environment, which scientists around the world can visualize, interact with, and collaborate in together using HoloLens devices. OnSight can be used in mission planning, with users able to program rover activities by looking at a target within the simulation, and using gestures to pull up and select menu commands.[43] JPL plans to deploy OnSight in Curiosity mission operations, using it to control rover activities by July 2015.[6]

Sidekick is a virtual aid tool for astronauts with two modes of operation. Remote Expert Mode uses the functionality of the Holographic Skype application—voice and video chat, real-time virtual annotation—to allow a ground operator and space crew member to collaborate directly over what the astronaut sees, with the ground operator able to see the crew member's view in 3D, provide interactive guidance, and draw annotations into the crew member's environment. In Procedure Mode, animated virtual illustrations display on top of objects as a crew member interacts with them. This mode can be used for guidance and instructional purposes in standalone scenarios. Sidekick is being deployed for use on the International Space Station,[41] with HoloLens hardware delivered in the Cygnus CRS Orb-4 commercial resupply mission on December 9, 2015.[44]

Interface

The augmented reality operating environment for Windows Holographic carries over and adapts many elements from the Windows desktop environment. Gaze tracking techniques such as head-tracking allows the user to bring application focus to whatever the user is looking at.[10] Elements can be selected via an "air tap" gesture akin to clicking an imaginary mouse, using the index finger with the hand in a "pointing up" position.[34] The "tap" can be held for performing a "drag" function.[39][45] The gesture for a "home" command (performing a similar function to pressing a Windows key on a Windows keyboard or tablet) is performed by opening one's hand with the palm facing up.[12] Users can perform various actions via voice command, such as pulling up a Holographic Start menu to launch programs. Windows can be dragged to a particular position, as well as resized. Virtual elements such as windows or menus can be "pinned" to locations, physical structures or objects within the environment; or can be "carried," or fixed in relation to the user, following the user as they move around. In the Holographic environment, title bars for application windows have a close button on the right, the title on the left, and buttons for window management functions such as resizing and pinning/carrying in the middle.[2]

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ See also: holography § Things often confused with holograms
  2. ↑ See also: Intel RealSense[1]
  3. ↑ See also: 3D audio effect, virtual surround, psychoacoustics
  4. ↑ See also: time-of-flight camera, Kinect for Xbox One[1]
  5. ↑ See also: sensor hub
  6. ↑ See also: RGB color model
  7. ↑ See also: diffraction grating, holographic grating, holographic optical element
  8. ↑ See also: waveguide (optics), total internal reflection

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Alex Kipman, Seth Juarez (30 April 2015). Developing for HoloLens. Microsoft. Event occurs at 00:07:15. Retrieved 1 May 2015. HoloLens is the first—and so far—only holographic computer out there. [...] I hope that in the not-so-distant future there will be many such devices. [...] This is running Windows 10. All of the APIs for human and environment understanding are part of Windows, and this version of Windows that we put on this device—we call it Windows Holographic.
  2. 1 2 Alex Kipman, Darren Bennett, Mark Griswold, Satya Nadella (29 April 2015). BUILD Keynote 2015. Microsoft Production Studios. Event occurs at 02:29:00. Retrieved 29 April 2015.
    "Alex Kipman: Build 2015". News Center. Microsoft. 29 April 2015. Retrieved 29 April 2015.
  3. 1 2 "Develop for Microsoft HoloLens". Microsoft. Retrieved 2 May 2015. A hologram is an object like any other object in the real world, with only one difference: instead of being made of physical matter, a hologram is made entirely of light. [...] Microsoft HoloLens generates a multi-dimensional image visible to the user so that he or she perceives holographic objects in the physical world.
  4. 1 2 Fenlon, Wes (21 January 2015). "Microsoft HoloLens hands on: the promise and disappointment of AR". PC Gamer. Retrieved 2 May 2015. The Microsoft HoloLens is not what I think of when I hear the word “hologram.” What Microsoft calls holograms, most of us have been calling augmented reality for years—overlaying digital images over our view of the real world.
  5. ↑ Kreylos, Oliver (22 January 2015). "What is holographic, and what isn’t?". Doc-Ok.org. Retrieved 20 September 2015. While these things are quite different from a technical point of view, from a user’s point of view, they have a large number of things in common. Wouldn’t it be nice to have a short, handy term that covers them all, has a well-matching connotation in the minds of the “person on the street,” and distinguishes these things from other things that might be similar technically, but have a very different user experience?
  6. 1 2 3 Terry Myerson, Alex Kipman, Jeff Norris, Satya Nadella (21 January 2015). Windows 10: The Next Chapter. Microsoft. Event occurs at 01:36:53. Retrieved 22 January 2015.
    "Satya Nadella, Terry Myerson, Joe Belfiore and Phil Spencer: Windows 10 Briefing". News Center. Microsoft. 21 January 2015. Retrieved 6 March 2015.
  7. 1 2 Shaban, Hamza (2014-09-02). "Microsoft announces Windows Holographic with HoloLens headset". The Verge. Retrieved 2015-01-21.
  8. ↑ Hachman, Mark (30 April 2015). "Here's how Windows 10 will launch, according to Microsoft". PCWorld. IDG Consumer & SMB. Retrieved 2 May 2015. The way to think about it will be a launch wave that starts in the summer with PCs, and fills out over time as more devices come online [...] You should expect [the] phone, HoloLens, Xbox, and Surface Hub [launches] will be staggered
  9. ↑ "Microsoft redefines the laptop with Surface Book, ushers in new era of Windows 10 devices". Microsoft. Microsoft News Center. 6 October 2015. Retrieved 7 October 2015.
  10. 1 2 "HoloLens Interaction Model". Building Apps for Windows. Microsoft. 21 January 2016. Retrieved 28 January 2016. The easiest way to think about it [gaze-based targeting for HoloLens] is as having a raycast from the device and which you can determine what object (real world as represented in the spatial mapping mesh or holographic) that ray intercepts with.
  11. ↑ Colaner, Seth (30 April 2015). "Microsoft HoloLens, Hands On: Promising Productivity, Little Panache". Tom's Hardware. Retrieved 1 May 2015. The pair of Microsoft reps in the IPD room also explained to us the three ways we were going to interact with HoloLens: "gaze," wherein you move a cursor by looking around; "gesture," where you air tap to select an item; and "voice," which is...obvious. "We call it 'GGV'," said one of the reps.
  12. 1 2 3 4 5 Hempel, Jessi (21 January 2015). "Restart: Microsoft in the age of Satya Nadella". Wired. Retrieved 22 January 2015. Each lens has three layers of glass—in blue, green, and red—full of microthin corrugated grooves that diffract light. [...] A “light engine” above the lenses projects light into the glasses, where it hits the grating and then volleys between the layers of glass millions of times.
  13. 1 2 Hempel, Jessi (21 January 2015). "Project HoloLens: Our Exclusive Hands-On With Microsoft’s Holographic Goggles". Wired. Retrieved 22 January 2015.
  14. ↑ "Introducing the Microsoft HoloLens Development Edition". Microsoft. Retrieved 7 October 2015. We will work to get devices out as quickly as possible. As soon as additional devices are available, more accepted applicants will be invited to purchase.
  15. ↑ Kim Yoo-chul (13 May 2015). "Samsung seeks partnership with Microsoft for hololens". The Korea Times. Retrieved 7 December 2015.
  16. ↑ Tibken, Shara (19 October 2015). "Asus mulls HoloLens augmented-reality glasses of its own". Wearable Tech. CNET. Retrieved 7 December 2015.
  17. 1 2 3 4 Davies, Chris (1 May 2015). "HoloLens hands-on: Building for Windows Holographic". SlashGear. Retrieved 1 May 2015. That means very little pressure on your nose, and even if you’re wearing glasses you can generally find a workable way to keep them on underneath.
  18. 1 2 3 4 "Microsoft Hololens hardware". Microsoft. Retrieved 1 May 2015.
  19. ↑ Hachman, Mark (1 May 2015). "Developing with HoloLens: Decent hardware chases Microsoft's lofty augmented reality ideal". PC World. Retrieved 1 May 2015.
  20. ↑ Hollister, Sean (21 January 2015). "Microsoft HoloLens Hands-On: Incredible, Amazing, Prototype-y as Hell". Retrieved 1 May 2015. One Microsoft employee [...] typed my IPD (interpupillary distance) into a connected PC. Microsoft says the final version will automatically measure the distnace [sic] between your eyes, but the prototypes don’t have that feature yet.
  21. 1 2 3 Holmdahl, Todd (1 May 2015). "BUILD 2015: A closer look at the Microsoft HoloLens hardware". Conversations: The Microsoft Devices blog. Retrieved 1 May 2015. This custom silicon efficiently processes data from the sensors, resulting in a relatively simple yet informative output that can be easily used by developers so they can focus on creating amazing experiences without having to work through complex physics calculations.
  22. 1 2 Bright, Peter (1 May 2015). "HoloLens: Still magical, but with the ugly taint of reality". Ars Technica. Retrieved 2 May 2015.
  23. ↑ "Microsoft HoloLens | Get Ready". Microsoft. Retrieved 6 March 2015.
  24. 1 2 Kreylos, Oliver (18 August 2015). "HoloLens and Field of View in Augmented Reality". Doc-Ok.org. Retrieved 23 August 2015. Initially, there was little agreement among those who experienced HoloLens regarding its field of view. That’s probably due to two reasons: one, it’s actually quite difficult to measure the FoV of a headmounted display; and two, nobody was allowed to bring any tools or devices into the demonstration rooms.
  25. 1 2 Microsoft HoloLens: Partner Spotlight with Case Western Reserve University. Microsoft. 8 July 2015. Retrieved 9 July 2015.
  26. ↑ Orland, Kyle (9 July 2015). "See for yourself what Microsoft HoloLens’ limited field-of-view looks like". Ars Technica. Condé Nast. Retrieved 9 July 2015. Even this video only gives a partial impression of just how limited the effect is. That's because the aspect ratio of the video window itself cuts off a large part of the peripheral vision you have when using HoloLens in real life.
  27. 1 2 Dingman, Hayden (18 June 2015). "Microsoft's augmented reality Halo is breathtaking, but HoloLens still needs work". PCWorld. Retrieved 28 June 2015. I don’t know what the field of view is on HoloLens, but if the Oculus Rift/HTC Vive have a “looking at the world through ski goggles” feel on occasion, then HoloLens is like looking at a cell phone screen someone held up five feet in front of your face. Or like peering at the world through the slit of a welding mask.
  28. 1 2 Kreylos, Oliver (1 May 2015). "On the road for VR: Microsoft HoloLens at Build 2015, San Francisco". Doc-Ok.org. Retrieved 17 June 2015. As I was stripped of all devices and gadgets before being allowed into the demo room, I had to guesstimeasure it by covering the visible screen with my hands (fingers splayed) at arm’s length, ending up with 1 3/4 hands horizontally, and 1 hand vertically (in other words, a 16:9 screen aspect ratio) (see Figure 1). In non-Doc-Ok units, that comes out to about 30° by 17.5° (for comparison, the Oculus Rift DK2′s field of view is about 100° by 100°).
  29. ↑ Robertson, Adi (1 May 2015). "Microsoft's HoloLens is new, improved, and still has big problems". The Verge. Retrieved 2 May 2015.
  30. ↑ Statt, Nick (1 May 2015). "Our inside look at Microsoft's HoloLens leaves us wanting more". CNET. Retrieved 28 June 2015. The most noticeable differentiator with the HoloLens right now is that your field of view is limited, resembling a rectangle the size of a sheet of printer paper held a half a foot in front of your face.
  31. 1 2 Crecente, Brian (16 June 2015). "HoloLens' Project X-Ray delivers a first-person augmented reality shooter". Polygon. Retrieved 28 June 2015. The virtual screen was about the size of a deck of cards if you held it in front of your eyes with your arm half-extended.
  32. ↑ Jeff Gerstmann, Phil Spencer, Kudo Tsunoda (16 June 2015). Giant Bomb LIVE! at E3 2015: Day 01. Event occurs at 3:13:06. Retrieved 4 July 2015. the hardware we have now [...] the field of view isn't exactly final, but I wouldn't say it's going to be [...] hugely, noticeably different, either.
  33. ↑ Bruce Harris. Microsoft Bruce Harris Deep Hololens Talk. Tel Aviv. Retrieved 28 January 2016. The battery, very much like a laptop...it's going to depend on what you're doing on the device. So, if I'm doing [...] Word documents and e-mail and things like that, I'll get five, five-and-a-half hours out of it. If I'm doing highly intensive, computational-type things and renderings and all that stuff—reality is probably going to get closer to two-and-a-half hours out of it.
  34. 1 2 3 Gilbert, Ben (21 January 2015). "I experienced 'mixed reality' with Microsoft's holographic computer headset, 'HoloLens'". Engadget. Retrieved 22 January 2015.
  35. ↑ "Case Western Reserve, Cleveland Clinic Collaborate with Microsoft on ‘Earth-Shattering’ Mixed-Reality Technology for Education". Case Western Reserve University. 29 April 2015. Retrieved 9 July 2015.
  36. ↑ "Trimble Partners with Microsoft to Bring Microsoft HoloLens Wearable Holographic Technology to the AEC Industry". Trimble Navigation. 29 April 2015. Retrieved 29 April 2015.
  37. ↑ Terry Myerson (6 October 2015). Microsoft Windows 10 devices event. Microsoft. Event occurs at 0:10:18. Retrieved 7 October 2015.
  38. ↑ "Halo 5 headlines greatest holiday games lineup in Xbox history". Microsoft News Center. Microsoft. 15 June 2015. Retrieved 15 June 2015.
  39. 1 2 Kudo Tsunoda, Lydia Winters, Sax Persson (15 June 2015). E3 2015 Media Briefing. Microsoft. Event occurs at 01:13:36. Retrieved 23 August 2015.
  40. ↑ Satya Nadella, Lorraine Bardeen, Dan McCulloch (13 July 2015). Our journey together. Event occurs at 42:42. Retrieved 15 July 2015.
  41. 1 2 Ramsey, Sarah, ed. (25 June 2015). "NASA, Microsoft Collaborate to Bring Science Fiction to Science Fact". Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Retrieved 28 June 2015.
  42. ↑ Gardiner, Garin (30 November 2015). "Microsoft HoloLens + Autodesk Fusion 360 = Mixed Reality for Product Design and Engineering [VIDEO]". In the Fold. Autodesk. Retrieved 7 December 2015.
  43. ↑ Northon, Karen, ed. (21 January 2015). "NASA, Microsoft Collaboration Will Allow Scientists to "Work on Mars"". Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Retrieved 22 January 2015.
  44. ↑ Franzen, Carl (9 December 2015). "Here's How Astronauts Will Use Microsoft's HoloLens Aboard The Space Station". Popular Science. Retrieved 14 December 2015.
  45. ↑ Summers, Nick (8 July 2015). "I played Minecraft with Microsoft's HoloLens". Engadget. Retrieved 23 August 2015. Bringing my finger down is like clicking on a mouse button; a quick down-up motion selects a block or action, or I can hold my finger in position to drag the world around.

External links

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