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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.

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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.

  • DocStrangeDocStrange ✭✭
    edited February 2017

    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!

  • DocStrangeDocStrange ✭✭
    edited February 2017

    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!

  • jbienzmsjbienzms mod
    edited February 2017

    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.

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