
Windows Holographic Shell Demo [video] - corysama
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gu09UWqS8-Q
======
kefka
At work, on my desk is a Hololens. In some ways, it's cool. In others, it is a
complete pile of garbage not worth anyone's time.

Cool:

New display type, that puts out really good looking holograms floating in
reality.

Really solid SLAM algo that allows building of areas in 3d.

Battery and usage is really solid. Can actively use it at full brightness for
6 hours before recharge.

Suck:

Runs only things from their "App Store" aka the slum store where PuTTY is
$5...

Sorry, no X86 apps. Period. End of story. Use Metro/UWP or whatever they call
it these days.

Very little applications for platform. What little useful ones available are
for ridiculous amounts. Open source is non-existent.

Loads of crypto data going to and from MS domains. All pinned cert data. The
size seemed to correspond to the total size of rooms scanned listed in the
settings.

No Administrator access, nor is there even a file manager. You are a renter on
this platform, not an owner. This of this as "Surface RT for your face".

Requires Microsoft account to use, full stop. Don't have an account and don't
want an account? You have a $3000 paperweight.

If you're prone to getting migraines, using this for any length of period will
likely trigger a migraine. I know 3 people who get them, and each of them
received a migraine within 5 minutes of usage. It has to do with how the
clip/strap works on the head.

~~~
pjmlp
How do the suck points measure up for DayDream and other VR alternatives?

~~~
kefka
Well, in the VR side of stuff, we have the Rift DK1 and DK2, Vive, and the
OSVR.

Everybody has their content for the Rift. They were first. And it shows by the
number of people making content.

The Vive is pretty awesome. The controllers are top notch. I was playing
(edit: nope, not Incredible Machine) Fantastic Contraption, and having a great
time at it. Things just work, and work well. Make sure to put the room
position sensors up about 5-6 feet on tripods though.

The OSVR... Well, a pile of crap is putting it nicely. The scripts that
install the drivers are that: bad scripts. half the stuff is command-line and
badly documented (unless you go through source as your documentation). There's
almost no applications for the platform, and no way to run Oculus based demos
and games on it. Head tracking was a disaster- when it worked. Save your money
and frustration. Buy something else.

~~~
pjmlp
Thanks.

------
Analemma_
You gotta love how the first application to be shown in that video is e-mail.
I can just imagine how that meeting went.

Dev: "OK, we've created the first platform for fully holographic interfaces.
You can create entire worlds where the only limit is your imagination. What
should we build first?"

PM: "Outlook!"

Oh Microsoft, never change ;)

~~~
WorldMaker
One of the points is that they didn't build a new Outlook for it, that's just
crusty regular old Outlook being Outlook (in a 3D space, but Outlook might not
even know that).

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TrevorJ
Microsoft has completely missed the most powerful aspect of VR/AR here...

I believe strongly that one of the KEY features of AR/VR for humans is that it
leverages our _excellent_ spacial memory. The spacial metaphor is a powerful
one, and the reason memory techniques like loci work. We need to leverage this
in VR. Standing at a virtual computer screen is exactly the wrong way to think
about this.

~~~
WorldMaker
I'm pretty sure Microsoft hasn't forgotten that. It's subtle in the video, but
the applications are more than in just one "virtual screen" spot and seem to
remember where they were left (Outlook and Edge are in very different
positions in her space, for instance). Same with the virtual knick knacks and
doodads scattered in the space.

The promises from earlier Windows Holographic pitches is that it is very
space-aware including making it easy for multiple machines and people to share
a consistent space between them.

Certainly there's probably a lot more that the 2D applications could make use
of 3D space, but the point of the demo (and Windows Holographic) is that
existing 2D applications play nice in your 3D spaces.

------
eecc
[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Bob](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Bob)
Can we get over it?

~~~
johnhenry
Perhaps it will work better in 3D?

------
drivingmenuts
It's sad that the promise of VR was that we could be taken to places that we
couldn't go in real life. Like Iceland - I'd love to go to Iceland, but there
are issues that prevent that. Or maybe The Louvre, but without all the other
tourists, etc. clogging up the joint.

No, we get email and a virtual dog.

So far, I'm not seeing a reason to even want VR, much less shell out
ridiculous amounts of money for it.

~~~
corysama
I'm guessing you noped-out before the end of the vid.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gu09UWqS8-Q&t=53s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gu09UWqS8-Q&t=53s)

~~~
drivingmenuts
OK, that's more like it. The marketoids should have led with that and gotten
bigger from there, rather than leading with the mundane stuff I can already do
just as well with a bog-standard computer.

------
leaveyou
straight from my gut:

virtual renditions of remote touristic places & events: YES !

virtual desktops, apps that work best in 2D forced into 3D and virtual pets:
rather no.

~~~
aaronsnoswell
Try 'HoloTour' for an amazing demo of virtual tourism on the HoloLens.

[Edit]: Didn't realise that the linked video actually showed off HoloTour :)

------
DanBC
I can't help thinking of Community's take on virtual reality:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NMTQxCzStuw](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NMTQxCzStuw)

Whatever pointing device they give had better be good. Flailing around in mid
air trying to click a tiny box right next to two other tiny boxes sucks.

------
mindcrash
In case you might not know: The first few minutes are most likely a nice nod
to Microsoft Bob [1], the first time they tried to create an alternate shell
environment (and hopelessly failed, I might add).

Well played Microsoft, well played.

[1]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Bob](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Bob)
\-- Note the dog.

------
wongarsu
Regular 2d apps in 3d space could be great, basically a natural extension of
the multi-monitor setup. But I don't see it being viable in the next five
years. Current generation VR displays are not even close to the required
resolution for useful office work.

------
ungzd
Virtual office cubicle with Microsoft Office. Like Job Simulator but real. The
future we deserve.

------
supercoder
Looks similar to
[http://store.steampowered.com/app/457550/](http://store.steampowered.com/app/457550/)

~~~
ungzd
More like
[http://store.steampowered.com/app/448280/](http://store.steampowered.com/app/448280/)

------
politician
What's the resolution of these displays? -- I can't imagine using Outlook (!)
on my Rift DK1.

------
shirro
Microsoft Bob VR. This will be the biggest thing since 3d televisions.

------
frogpelt
Looks like the search companion dog is back! But where's Clippy?

~~~
cagey_vet
buried under a thousand windows and widgets, or theres not enough RAM left for
it.

