Playing around with Microsoft Hololens

Yesterday in the morning, Alessandro invited me to join a meetup targeting the Hololens. As the Hololens is very rare outside the US, I just needed to join the event.

When I arrived, already one of the meetup attendees was introduced to the Hololens. After some time, it was then my turn. The first “challenge” one has to take is to adjust the device on your head. The Hololens has quite some weight – it is a full PC you are wearing on your head, so not much a surprise.

After I mounted the Hololens on my head, I needed to start the calibration app. You have to adjust four corners you are seeing on the display. This is quite a challenge, but once you have it done, you’re ready to go.

GianPaolo recommended me to play level one of the space shooter game “Project X-Ray”, to get a better feeling for the device. You may probably know this from various Microsoft demos already (if not, click here). The game first scans the environment, and then you have to shot down all the alien robots that are coming out of the wall. As much fun as it is, it is challenging (at least at my age). Here is a shot of what I (and others) saw:

After that, I tried the Galaxy Explorer app. It is amazing, you can zoom in and out of the point of interests in the 3D galaxy map, pretty much like we know already from some science-fiction movies. Here’s a shot of me in action:

One thing needs to be clear. The Hololens does no longer interact with any object like we all are used to. It takes user interaction to a whole new level. You’ll have to learn some gestures, like the “bloom”-gesture to open the start menu. But that’s only how you control the device. We all will be able to add our own ways of interaction in our apps (that we will write one day, I bet!). I have already some ideas what I could do (well, also thanks to my kids and wife, tbh). One of them is a holographic version of my first app I ever wrote (which is a fishing knots tutorial app with animated step-by-step guide).

What about you? Do you have ideas for Hololens apps/games? Sound off in the comments, if you want to share your ideas. You can also find more info on Hololens development here on MSDN.

To close this post, I want to thank the team of IBV Solutions for this absolutely awesome opportunity. Thank you, guys!