Tech giant Microsoft has unveiled its cutting-edge augmented reality technology. Named Microsoft Mesh, the brand-new platform promises to enable users to have presence and shared experiences from anywhere in the world through mixed reality applications.
The Mesh technology was first revealed at yesterday's digital Microsoft Ignite conference, which is the company's annual conference for developers and IT professionals. Ignite's keynote experience was the first designed entirely for mixed reality, allowing people to attend Microsoft's conference from their home as avatars to witness the show happen in real-time via a shared holographic world.
RELATED: Apple is Reportedly Making A VR Headset
The concept goes well beyond the more straightforward VR office concepts seen with Facebook's Oculus Rift. Mesh's aspirations envision a true mixed reality application, which, as seen in the video below, allows holographic avatars to interact with objects that appear in physical spaces, coined as "holoportation." For example, a user could be standing in their living room looking at a large, rotating globe hologram, while a teacher or professor's holographic avatar actively interacts with it. While those "inside" of the virtual space will initially take the form of "expressive" avatars, Microsoft promises the transition to photorealistic projections later down the line. If Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella is to be believed, the "interweaving of digital bits and physical atoms" will make communication from afar an entirely different proposition in the years to come.
The chiefly featured piece of tech from the presentation is the company's HoloLens 2, which is touted on Microsoft's website as the "best" way to experience Mesh. While Microsoft indicates it's firstly focused on industry and workplace uses, it also is looking to bring the device into the gaming space. During the keynote, Niantic CEO John Hanke joined speaker Alex Kipman to show off Pokemon GO running on the new HoloLens. Hanke can be seen walking through a virtual park interacting with AR-generated Pokemon that have a noticeably higher level of interactivity than the smartphone version of the game. Film director James Cameron also made a holographic appearance, speaking on how the tech enables "holographic laboratories" to aid in scientific pursuits.
While the concept video truly looks like something straight out of science fiction, implementing precisely mapped digital objects and users in a physical space presents a logistically difficult challenge. For the "holoportation" to work as depicted, a complex setup involving high-tech sensors and controlled lighting would be required, which would potentially create the need for specific rooms outfitted with the proper peripherals. Additionally, the system will need to keep the location of objects and files that may only exist in the cloud on lock. Still, Microsoft appears to have come a very long way from its first HoloLens prototype, which wasn't built for gaming whatsoever.
Microsoft's Mesh AR technology envisions the capabilities of augmented reality as many have aspired it to be. While clearly one of the most advanced products of its kind, the HoloLens 2's $3,500 price tag will likely prevent the average consumer from picking one up. Fortunately, Mesh is said to become available to more AR and VR headsets as time goes on. For those looking for a cheaper alternative, the Oculus Quest 2, set to receive a 120Hz refresh rate update, only costs $299. Regardless of the device, it looks like the VR and AR industry will only get more prominent in the years to come.
MORE: 45 Million VR Headsets Will be 'Actively Used' by 2025
Source: Microsoft