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A Simple Persistant Holographic Clock: is it possible?
I've used only Unity for development on HoloLens and such apps shut down all other holograms when running. I was asked if it was possible to create a simple clock to pin in a Space. The hologram would be running while using UWP apps (e.g. Word, PowerPoint, RemoteDesktop). The extension would be adding media controls, setting timers and alarms.
My question is whether this is possible. I thought the Holograms app might be a place to start but I see no way to add a Hologram, let alone one that has interactivity beyond playing a set animation.
It's these basic functions that are hindering our advance of HoloLens in every day work. We don't want to re-create core functionality of an OS for every Unity app (e.g. notifications, media controls, clock, sticky notes). With complete silence from Microsoft on the HoloLens roadmap and no update since Aug 2016, it's starting to feel like the 'next wave of computing' is a little farther off than I thought. I thought that by now we'd see some hints of what the Creator's Update would look like for HoloLens but no Insider builds yet.
Best Answer
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jbienzms mod
Currently the ability to create a hologram that runs in the "shell" is reserved for Microsoft 1st-party titles. Even those are not complex interactive objects, however. If you notice the holographic "tile" for RoboRaid has some animation to it, but no custom logic.
I do work for Microsoft but I am not part of the HoloLens engineering team. They have not made any announcements about this changing so you may not see this change for Creators Update.
I'm sorry that the lack of shell integration is hindering the type of applications you're wanting to build. Having said that, I do work with partners every day who are reshaping their industries with the products they're actively building on HoloLens. From my own personal perspective, I very much feel the next wave of computing is already here.
Many of the features you've outlined (clock, media controls, sticky notes) seem a little consumer orientated. Please keep in mind that the current iteration of the HoloLens is still very much targeted at the commercial space. Still, don't hesitate to share your thoughts via the feedback tool. Though I'm not on the engineering team (and don't have access to their roadmap) I do know members of that team and I do know they take feedback from the feedback tool very seriously. When you provide feedback, please try to be as descriptive as you can about not only the feature gap you are experiencing but also the type of experience you want to create and how the features will help you realize those goals. That information is critical for them as they plan which features to invest in next.
Our Holographic world is here
RoadToHolo.com WikiHolo.net @jbienz
I work in Developer Experiences at Microsoft. My posts are based on my own experience and don't represent Microsoft or HoloLens.5
Answers
The HoloLens is not able to run multiple apps at the same time (at least at the moment). Microsoft has some videos were multiple apps were running at the same time, but that were marketing videos only. When a second app is started the first one shows a static screenshot only.
The Intel Aloy shall be capable of running multiple apps in parallel. So I think this feature is coming in one of the next versions.
I can have a hologram from the Holograms app playing in loop while listening to Groove and browsing via Edge. What I gather is this functionality is not accessible to developers. In the Aug 2016 update, up to three windowed apps could be running at the same time so I was hoping there would be a way to tap into that functionality.
Has anyone deployed a non-Unity UWP windowed (2D) app and run it concurrently with other apps open? Maybe this is the question I should start with.
Thanks!
Currently the ability to create a hologram that runs in the "shell" is reserved for Microsoft 1st-party titles. Even those are not complex interactive objects, however. If you notice the holographic "tile" for RoboRaid has some animation to it, but no custom logic.
I do work for Microsoft but I am not part of the HoloLens engineering team. They have not made any announcements about this changing so you may not see this change for Creators Update.
I'm sorry that the lack of shell integration is hindering the type of applications you're wanting to build. Having said that, I do work with partners every day who are reshaping their industries with the products they're actively building on HoloLens. From my own personal perspective, I very much feel the next wave of computing is already here.
Many of the features you've outlined (clock, media controls, sticky notes) seem a little consumer orientated. Please keep in mind that the current iteration of the HoloLens is still very much targeted at the commercial space. Still, don't hesitate to share your thoughts via the feedback tool. Though I'm not on the engineering team (and don't have access to their roadmap) I do know members of that team and I do know they take feedback from the feedback tool very seriously. When you provide feedback, please try to be as descriptive as you can about not only the feature gap you are experiencing but also the type of experience you want to create and how the features will help you realize those goals. That information is critical for them as they plan which features to invest in next.
Our Holographic world is here
RoadToHolo.com WikiHolo.net @jbienz
I work in Developer Experiences at Microsoft. My posts are based on my own experience and don't represent Microsoft or HoloLens.
Thank you for the explanation @jbienzms Very much appreciated. The application of the HoloLens is in an IoT-connected laboratory environment. The app user requirement specs are still being defined and we can get around things like notifications by baking them into the app (e.g. your reaction is finished; equipment failure alarm, etc.), but these seemingly small features are turning into big headaches.
I agree these features sound consumer oriented - we pushed back too - but it's also part of the adoption curve. Some of these more basic features are important and lacking them could lead to frustration and abandonment of the platform by our users. It also seems that MS is positioning Mixed Reality at the consumer level with comparably low-cost tethered headsets, so I was hoping some of these features may be headed to the Holographic Shell. Perhaps there will be more at the GDC.
Just to amend my statement - I also agree the next wave of computing is here with the HoloLens. In retrospect, it's the broader adoption that I feel is farther off than originally expected. I'm a huge enthusiast and behind my company's investment in development resources and a dozen devices. That challenge for me - and for other developers (e.g. slack HoloLens group) is lack of communication and transparency from Microsoft on the roadmap. Do we develop for the HoloLens as it is today or as it will be in a year? Spending $$ on developing notification features, clocks/timers, virtual keyboards, voice dictation, a notepad etc. within a proprietary app is an option I'm hoping to avoid. My wishful thinking is that these types of features will be coming, but perhaps that's not even feasible with the current Holographic Shell. The absence of any new features and no Insider Builds despite being an option since Aug 2016 started us wondering where this is all headed.
I'll focus more on Feedback Hub for some of these requests/responses. Hopefully we'll hear more from Alex Kipman or someone representing HoloLens about Insider builds, features and plans for the future. I think that would go a long way toward reassuring developers. I'm sincerely grateful for your response.
Cheers!
Thanks for the additional detail @DocStrange. And you're right, as the Windows Holographic bits start running on low cost VR devices we are pushing closer to the consumer market. I do not know when we are going to consider Windows Holographic "consumer ready" but we know it's an eventuality.
I'm not sure how much of this will be discussed at GDC but I would keep an eye out for more content at BUILD. I don't know if you'll be at BUILD but I'm planning to be there and we could grab a beer and chat more about your projects if you have time.
Our Holographic world is here
RoadToHolo.com WikiHolo.net @jbienz
I work in Developer Experiences at Microsoft. My posts are based on my own experience and don't represent Microsoft or HoloLens.