Microsoft HoloLens By Example

Key Features

• Create awesome Augmented Reality (AR) apps for the Microsoft HoloLens platform
• Unleash the power of Unity SDK for HoloLens to create next generation AR apps
• Explore the exciting world of gesture control, visual mapping, voice command for apps, and many more cutting edge possibilities with HoloLens

Book Description

Are you a developer who is fascinated with Microsoft HoloLens and its capabilities? Do you want to learn the intricacies of working with the HoloLens SDK and create your own apps? If so, this is the book for you.

This book introduces and demystifies the HoloLens platform and introduces new ways you can interact with computers (Mixed Reality). It will teach you the important concepts, get you excited about the possibilities, and give you the tools to continue exploring and experimenting. You will go through the journey of creating four independent examples throughout the book, two using DirectX and two using Unity. You will learn to implement spatial mapping and gesture control, incorporate spatial sound, and work with different types of input and gaze. You will also learn to use the Unity 5 SDK for HoloLens and create apps with it.

Collectively, the apps explore the major concepts of HoloLens, but each app is independent, giving you the flexibility to choose where to start (and end).

What you will learn

• Extend the computing experience beyond the flat glass screen by placing and embedding virtual objects holograms) into the physical world
• Interact with the holograms using gaze, gestures, and voice
• Enhance the experience with spatial sound
• Allow multiple users to naturally collaborate with each other
• Integrate voice commands into your own HoloLens projects
• Experiment with techniques to better understand the real world
• Implement a user interface in Mixed Reality
• Blend the virtual and physical world by making the holograms interact and react to the physical environment

About the Author

Joshua Newnham is a lead design technologist at Method, an experience design studio, with a focus on the intersection of design and artificial intelligence, working on a variety of projects ranging from wearables to assist medical staff during a surgery to a health assistant chatbot. Prior to this, Joshua was a technical director at Masters of Pie, a digital production studio focused on designing and developing virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) experiences, and premonitory developing tools for engineers and creatives. Other roles before this included head of mobile for the digital agency--Razorfish--and cofounder of one of London’s first mobile production studios--ubinow--acquired by Havas Workclub, where he lead many projects for major global brands such as Universal Pictures, Diageo, and adidas.

Joshua’s interest lies in designing and building digital solutions that make our lives a little easier and more enjoyable, exploring new ways in which we can interact with computers, and designing and developing systems that are more intuitive, intelligent and social, and thus better integrated into our daily lives.

Table of Contents

1. Enhancing Reality
2. Tagging the world using DirectX
3. Assistant item finder using DirectX
4. Building Paper Trash Ball in Unity
5. Building Paper Trash Ball in Unity using HoloToolkit
6. Interacting with Holograms using Unity
7. Collaboration with Hololens using Unity
8. Developing a multiplayer game using Unity
9. Deploying your apps to the Hololens device and Emulator