Hello!
These days it’s all about Hololens for me. Right now I’m in an event where we are developing how far we can go with this platform in the Energy industry and on the other hand, a major Hololens project for Retail has done their 1st big step today.
I usually start giving a bit of context on how the device works. Then comes the time to invite people to try the Hololens and the ideas start to flow in a very natural way.
I need to be honest and I must admit that when “when I share the experience from the outside“, that’s mean share the PoV of the Hololens user, is usually not the best experience. In official Microsoft events, we have seen that in addition to a user using Hololens, there is usually a person with a Special Camera which shows us an external point of view, including holograms, and gives more meaning to the scenes.
As well, after having this as an “internal – preview project”, Microsoft finally has released the Spectator View. The Spectator view requires some hardware, to emulate a camera with holographic capabilities and share what a user is “seeing” with another pair of Hololens.
The image above is a good way to describe this scenario: a 2nd pair of Hololens connected to a computer, along with a HD camera and a special connector for both.
However, there are 2 important to take into account details
- It is necessary to prepare the Hololens Apps so that they are compatible with this mode. Such, is time to tweak the code of our apps to be “spectator view compatible”
- This model is not cheap. In addition to a powerful computer, you need a 2nd pair of Hololens, a camera with HDMI output or a compatible SDK, a tripod and a pair of adapters to connect everything.
Although the apps preparation for this is not a complex task, it will take some time. I guess, as always, in a few months and we will be accustomed to this and practice will make you more productive.
The best way to understand the hardware is to see the detailed list in the original post, or if you know a little of the topic, it is easy to understand how this photo is mounted.
Finally, the pieces of software that you need for this are an interesting set.
- Software downloaded from the GitHub project for spectator view.
- Blackmagic Capture Card SDK.
Search for Desktop Video Developer SDK in “Latest Downloads”. - Blackmagic Desktop Video Runtime.
Search for Desktop Video Software Update in “Latest Downloads”.
Ensure the version number matches the SDK version. - OpenCV 3.1 For calibration or video capture without the Blackmagic capture card.
- Canon SDK (Optional).
If you are using a Canon camera and have access to the Canon SDK, you can tether your camera to your PC to take higher resolution images. - Unity for your holographic app development.
Supported version can be found in the OSS project. - Visual Studio 2015 with latest updates.
As always it is best to view a video that explains it in a quick way
Greetings @ Calgary
El Bruno
References
- Developer Microsoft, Spectator View
- Valorem MIRO, Mixed Reality Observer
El Bruno 