Hello everyone.
The Mixed Reality Forums here are no longer being used or maintained.
There are a few other places we would like to direct you to for support, both from Microsoft and from the community.
The first way we want to connect with you is our mixed reality developer program, which you can sign up for at https://aka.ms/IWantMR.
For technical questions, please use Stack Overflow, and tag your questions using either hololens or windows-mixed-reality.
If you want to join in discussions, please do so in the HoloDevelopers Slack, which you can join by going to https://aka.ms/holodevelopers, or in our Microsoft Tech Communities forums at https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/mixed-reality/ct-p/MicrosoftMixedReality.
And always feel free to hit us up on Twitter @MxdRealityDev.
The Mixed Reality Forums here are no longer being used or maintained.
There are a few other places we would like to direct you to for support, both from Microsoft and from the community.
The first way we want to connect with you is our mixed reality developer program, which you can sign up for at https://aka.ms/IWantMR.
For technical questions, please use Stack Overflow, and tag your questions using either hololens or windows-mixed-reality.
If you want to join in discussions, please do so in the HoloDevelopers Slack, which you can join by going to https://aka.ms/holodevelopers, or in our Microsoft Tech Communities forums at https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/mixed-reality/ct-p/MicrosoftMixedReality.
And always feel free to hit us up on Twitter @MxdRealityDev.
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Is there a way to use apps other than the windows store ones?
I want to know this, as chrome is not available on Hololens from the windows store, and some apps, like maya or internal file explorers, which seem very useful with Hololens are also not there. Is there no way to open exe's and installers?
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Answers
Hi @Paresh Google Chrome and Chromecast are not available because they are intellectual property of Google not Microsoft.
Only Windows Store apps can be loaded to HoloLens.
The principle being that HoloLens app delivery is the same as Windows Mobile Phone.
Only Universal Windows Programs can be loaded and installed on the HoloLens, Windows Holographic Programming is UWP compliant and the exe, known as Win32, .Net 4 and other support libraries don't exist on HoloLens.
The Windows Store Holographic section can only be accessed by the HoloLens device or HoloLens Emulator. HoloLens apps cannot be loaded into the emulator
There is a built in File Explorer and next year Paint 3D will be available, once Windows 10 Creators update is released. Maya would simply be too big and require too much CPU time
I think Autodesk might opt for their "big" apps to stream to Holographic platforms, rather then run natively on them.
As a 3d artist myself I am not sure Id ever want to develop purely with the hololens - but having 3d models floating by my monitor as I edit on the pc? YES please.
Though desktop apps like Max and Maya will not run directly on HoloLens, they can stream high fidelity stereoscopic renders to HoloLens and can receive camera position data back from the HoloLens. We demonstrated this last year on stage with Maya and developers can integrate this capability today using the Holographic Remoting Host samples in the HoloLens Companion Kit. This is work that the software vendor would have to do in order to enable this feature.
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.
Apps can be side loaded both onto HoloLens and the emulator, entirely bypassing the windows store. But only for development. The intent is all apps are Windows Store distributed, see the agreement: https://msdn.microsoft.com/library/windows/apps/hh694058
But ... they still need to be UWP apps.
Doing heavyweight processing off of the HoloLens is a no brainer, and is a common feature these days (for instance, where is a Bing or Google search performed?, not on your phone, that's for sure).
Going through the full process of learning about HoloLens, tinkering with APIs, asking lots of stupid questions, getting a bit serious, developing prototypes, then finally finding a basis for a real app then developing and publishing the app left me with a couple interesting realizations.
So after walking that path, I find it interesting when someone writes about not wanting to do their design/development in 3D virtual space, yet they're trying to create products for 3D virtual space, and instead prefer their 2D tooling that allows to create and later display their creation done with 2D tooling in 3D space.
My own experience is that once even basic tools are available to allow design/development and allow to work entirely in 3D virtual space, that there quickly emerges a strong desire to never return to the limitations of 2D, regardless of the 2D tools available.
The gaming engine design/development teams already know this well and that's why their development efforts are leading to tooling the 3D virtual space for development and dropping 2D (monitors are 2D even if they offer 3D design capabilities).
My first hololens app evolved out of not wanting to go back and forth between 2D design environment and a 3D virtual proving grounds. It only took a small number of cycles going back and forth to realize working 100% of the time in 3D virtual space is much more effective ... BUT ONLY if you have a tool allowing it, even just basic, simplistic tooling.
The other epiphany occurred when I realized all the initial demo apps that left me so underwhelmed and entirely disappointed where not the result of the technology available, not a result of the modest new APIs for HoloLens, but a result of the limitations of the imaginations of the developers using this new technology.
The new MR technology was merely being used a bit and mostly by mashing 2D concepts into 3D virtual space, but clearly is not yet being fully exploited, not yet even close to that.
This disappointment of mine, resulted from 2D limited thinking of the developers of those initial demo apss. For example, bringing 2D concepts such as menus directly into 3D virtual space, and then offering awkward hand movements to use the menus.
Moving into the 3D virtual spaces as a way of thinking, imagining, reasoning and then designing/developing and producing only happens when you can do it, and then you do, do it. You do your work in 3D virtual space.
You start to unleash your imagination fully in 3D virtual space, only by working in 3D virtual space.
Spend a bit of time with even a simplistic 3D virtual design tool, doing all your design in 3D virtual space and you will not want to return to 2D. Period!