An immersive experience with Windows Mixed Reality

By Sonya Davidson

It was an unlikely gathering, or so you would think, of women ready to explore what's new in mixed reality. When Microsoft approached me to see if I was interested in a personalize experience of the new Windows Mixed Reality with friends, I was curious. I also decided to go against the expected when they mentioned I could invite a few friends or family members along for the fun. 

You would probably expect me to bring my family of boys. Nah, they're too predictable. I already know they would be interested. So, I decided to bring a few other ladies to see just what would happen. After all, we all know that moms are the ones who are figuring out gifts this time of year. It may come as a surprise that each woman I asked to joined me JUMPED at the opportunity to see the latest technology. With varying knowledge of augmented reality and virtual reality, there was definitely a strong interest in learning more especially when we see potential of spending more quality time WITH our friends and families. 

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Patent shows new details about Facebook’s AR glasses

If you’re wondering what Facebook is doing in the augmented reality space, a newly published patent shows us the possibilities. The device is described as something that can “augment views of a physical, real-world environment with computer-generated elements" and "be included in an eye-wear comprising a frame and a display assembly that presents media to a user's eyes." It has what’s called a waveguide display with a two-dimensional scanner being developed by Facebook's virtual reality arm Oculus VR. The display could be used not just for AR but for virtual reality, mixed reality, or a combination of those three.

The display will make use of lasers, scanning mirrors, and other elements to display content. According to the patent filing, the lasers will emit light onto the lens displays and transform these into the images and videos you’ll be able to see. There might also be audio courtesy of connected speakers or headphones. While the patent might be here, this doesn’t necessarily mean we’re getting the device soon. As Mashable points out, Oculus’ chief scientist Michael Abrash spoke at F8 saying that always-on AR glasses are at least five years away. For now, we can just think about the possibilities.

Windows 10 PCs coming out next year will have Windows Holographic access

Mixed reality is almost upon us. Microsoft Windows head Terry Myerson announced at Intel’s annual developers’ conference that the company is partnering with intel to allow Windows 10 PCs coming out next year to have support for mixed-reality applications. What mixed reality is, as defined by Recode: “The key term for mixed reality, or MR, is flexibility. It tries to combine the best aspects of both VR [virtual reality] and AR [augmented reality], wrapped up in a marketable term that sounds marginally less geeky than its cousins. In theory, mixed reality lets the user see the real world (like AR) while also seeing believable, virtual objects (like VR). And then it anchors those virtual objects to a point in real space, making it possible to treat them as "real," at least from the perspective of the person who can see the MR experience.”

The upcoming PCs will have the holographic shell built in—this is the same operating system running on the Microsoft HoloLens headset. PCs will work with a head-mounted display and run all Windows Holographic apps and this will be enabled by “6 degrees of freedom devices,” which are input devices to add positional tracking alongside other traditional input forms like clicking and pointing. And it’ll be widely available, too. So you don’t require a high-powered machine needed by some of today’s VR headsets. The Microsoft demo video at the conference showed Windows 10 Holographic running at 90FPS on a tiny Intel NUC desktop PC.

Source: TechCrunch + The Verge

Magic Leap and Lucasfilm want to bring C-3PO into your living room

Watch this on The Scene.

It’s feels like a match made in heaven when you think about Lucasfilm and mixed-reality startup Magic Leap partnering, especially if you think about the technology the two companies can bring into the world. What took over a year of “courtship” has resulted in the two innovators working to bringing Star Wars content into our lives. Magic Leap is working closely with Lucasfilm’s forward-looking division, xLab, to do something both brands won’t elaborate on. But a video showed at WIRED Business Conference shows the possibility of having C-3PO in your living room interacting with you and sharing the issues from the Star Wars galaxy, making use of augmented reality and other “mixed reality” tech we’re sure is headed our way many years from now. What they could put forward could be a new medium to consume content or change the way we tell stories. It’s all pretty exciting, if you ask us.

Source: WIRED