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occluded mixed reality devices
Hello - I would like to understand the differences between occluded mixed reality devices and available VR devices available in the market. As per the recent windows developer day update i could understand that the consumer version mixed reality devices will not have interaction with real world and spatial mapping concepts - correct me if i am wrong.
If that is the consumer version that we are going to have i don't see a big difference other than sharing concept. This is all my understanding - please correct me if my understanding is wrong.
Best Answer
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Jesse_McCulloch
admin
@sudhakar82 - I think one of the biggest differentiators from what is currently on the market is going to be cost of entry. Right now with Vive and Oculus, along with an $800+ HMD, you also have to have a fairly beefy computer with good graphics card to even start to play around in the VR space. With Holographic Platform, the cost of the headsets is going to be considerably less ($299 to $599 is what I have heard) and will run on most standard computers running Windows 10 Creator Edition. This makes it much more accessible for the consumers. Also, with the ability to run the same apps across multiple HMD's without having to port your code is very attractive for the developer market, which is essential for the platform to succeed.
6
Answers
So, let me preface this with a few facts. I don't work for Microsoft, and have no more info than what is publicly available. The information that is public is very, very scarce. The people I have talked to that could possibly be in the know are very careful not to reveal anything.
That said, here is my understanding of how the occluded headsets are different than say, the vive or oculus.
The Mixed Reality Headsets will operate using the Windows Holographic platform. This is the same API set that is currently being used for HoloLens development. There are coming updates to that API set to support the occluded headsets that are coming to market this year. My expectation is we should see these API updates at the end of Feb. around GDC, when the developer kits for the occluded headsets are rumored to start being shipped out.
From what I understand, the occluded headsets will load into a shell, which will be some sort of a virtual room. The inside out tracking that has been announced for these headsets is going to be mostly used for collision detection, so that you don't run into walls or furniture and such. There is not any information right now about what the configurability of the virtual room is.
Any apps that currently work on the HoloLens should work within the Virtual Room. If the app uses spatial mapping, it will be mapped against the virtual room, not the physical one. There are going to be API's as part of the Holographic platform that do feature detection, that will allow you to enhance the experience for different headsets with different capabilities.
I am sure there is stuff that I am missing here, but that's a start....
If you have any questions about the above, let me know.
Thanks,
Jesse
@Jesse_McCulloch Thanks for your reply. My questions is little more from the consumer point of view - if they are going to be as same as VR devices like others or there will be any additional features that standout from others.
@Jesse_McCulloch It will be great help if you can explain or provide some reference links what exactly means six-degrees of freedom which is different from other VR devices
@sudhakar82 - I think one of the biggest differentiators from what is currently on the market is going to be cost of entry. Right now with Vive and Oculus, along with an $800+ HMD, you also have to have a fairly beefy computer with good graphics card to even start to play around in the VR space. With Holographic Platform, the cost of the headsets is going to be considerably less ($299 to $599 is what I have heard) and will run on most standard computers running Windows 10 Creator Edition. This makes it much more accessible for the consumers. Also, with the ability to run the same apps across multiple HMD's without having to port your code is very attractive for the developer market, which is essential for the platform to succeed.