HoloLens Launching Dev Kits March 30th, Microsoft Shun VR For Augmented Reality
2016 is the 'year of virtual reality' say the tech sages, but Microsoft has another avenue it's exploring. Augmented reality imposes the virtual on the real world and the corporate behemoth is putting their chips behind AR instead of jumping on the VR bandwagon.
Pre-orders for the HoloLens Development Edition take place today with launch set for March 30th. Tutorials and documentation will be dumped on every developer and software company interested in the AR approach. What Microsoft really want to see is a tidal wave of Windows 10 apps and they're kicking things of with three HoloLens games being handled in-house.
Why is augmented reality so different from VR? For one thing it lets you 'see' something virtual projected into the real world, like on a table in front of you, instead of dropping you into a fully enclosed virtual environment. You can bring objects into the real world and this has an enormous number of advantages and unique opportunities. Architects for example could have an actual representation of their work in front of them and see changes immediately. A big driver for AR, much like VR, will be video games.
Microsoft is working on three titles and each uses HoloLens in their own way.
This is described as an augmented crime drama that'll happen right in front of you. Players need to investigative clues and solve the actual crimes, which features non-player characters 'sitting in our living rooms' to be interviewed.
“As a holographic platform highlight, Fragments demonstrates how creators can build characters and storylines that drive a higher level of emotional engagement and attachment than you can with any other medium,” Microsft's Kudo Tsunoda said. “Fragments blends the line between the digital world and the real world more than any other experience we built. When your living room has been used as the set for a story, it generates memories for you of what digitally happened in your space like it was real. It is an experience that bridges the uncanny valley of your mind and delivers a new form of storytelling like never before.”
Rare's adventurous squirrel Conker is back and he's going AR! Apparently the game is set to change depending on the environment it's used in, meaning everyone should get something a little unique to them. If it's platforming then yes, obviously you will have a unique world to play in compared to other people. Who doesn't want Conker scaling their sofa? This actually lets developers get away with smaller teams, notes Microsoft, because the real world does most of the level design for them.
“This means every person gets a unique gameplay experience, since each gamer’s real world environment is unique,” Tsunoda continued. “It is amazing how different the play experience feels based on playing the game in your living room versus your kitchen or your bedroom. Even starting the game from a different position in a single room creates an entirely new gameplay dynamic.”
Formerly known as Project X-Ray, RoboRaid is a first-person shooter with aliens actually tearing through the walls of the room you're in and we have to shoot the robots down as they come through in waves. A big feature for RoboRaid is using spatial sound to let the player know which wall is about to crumble. Eight people over twelve weeks put RoboRaid together at Microsoft.
Perhaps the biggest tease for HoloLens was the demonstration for Minecraft, which Microsoft now owns after they bought up its creator Mojang. They showed Minecraft projected onto a square table at E3 2015 with another player running about inside a structure. Real-time and turn-based strategy titles would be a great fit for augmented reality. Even the racing genre can get in on it if it takes a scalextric approach. An augmented city builder? What about a LEGO construction game or app? AR has many exciting game possibilities.
The HoloLens Development Edition is obviously not for consumers, especially given its huge price tag, but that's unlikely to stop some. Microsoft also want storytelling to have a major role and will release something they call Actiongram for HoloLens this summer. “These are videos that previously could only be created using expensive effects packages by people with extensive 3D training,” said Tsunoda. “We will be delivering new content for Actiongram regularly so that you can continually express yourself in this holographic medium.”
The spotlight may be on virtual reality for now as Oculus Rift, HTC Vive and PlayStation VR prepare to release to consumers but augmented reality shouldn't be counted out or thought of as 'less than VR' because its inclusion of the virtual in the real world can be just as compelling. Each has their strengths as VR lets you disappear into another world, but AR can let you be a big kid with a toy box.
HoloLens Development Edition pre-orders start today, February 29th, and will be releasing March 30th, 2016.