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Microsoft demos 'holoportation' 3D presence tech with HoloLens

research.microsoft.com

51–60 of 117 posts

Re: Microsoft demos 'holoportation' 3D presence tech with HoloLens

#51
post #37

Microsoft seems to be fiddling around in research while Sony runs away with the Virtual Reality cup.

As a point of clarification, this is Augmented Reality, which is actually quite different than Virtual Reality in practice and scale. So it's an apples to bananas comparison.

The biggest difference at this stage seems to be people handing over money for VR while AR, well......

In a very real way they are "the same" in that Microsoft and Sony have each chosen to bet on AR or VR, not both.

The are the same in that they are both "immersive headset technology interfaces".

Looks very much like a betamax versus VHS battle and AR at this stage is a distant betamax.

Re: Microsoft demos 'holoportation' 3D presence tech with HoloLens

#53
post #18
post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In a generation or two they'll do facial tracking. I imagine you'll get a full 3D model made of you, and it'll pick up the facial movements and transpose them onto your avatar

Yea, perhaps. Like in the recent "face2face: realtime face capture and re-enactment video"[1]. and your reference to "your avatar" reminds me of the scene from the matrix where Morpheus describes "residual self-image"[2] [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ohmajJTcpNk [2] https://youtu.be/AGZiLMGdCE0?t=26

See also Ghost in the Shell:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=poKi7YyuamI

Re: Microsoft demos 'holoportation' 3D presence tech with HoloLens

#54
post #29
post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hololens will eventually be a contact lens. Progress is progress.

Might as well say that this will eventually be transporter or holodeck. The best we can assume at this point is that they'll reduce this down to something like a pair of large sunglasses, but even that's a bit optimistic without some revolutionary changes in optics.

We'll just replace our eyeballs.

Re: Microsoft demos 'holoportation' 3D presence tech with HoloLens

#55

He seemed extremely careful not to let his daughter walk through him. He always made room for her. I wonder if there have been studies done to assess how creepy it might be to have a family member walk right through you...

I think it was more of a gut reaction of "here's something moving towards me, let me get out of its way", rather than being extremely careful. I don't think we're at all ready for having things passing through us.

Re: Microsoft demos 'holoportation' 3D presence tech with HoloLens

#58

Nice "demo"... Microsoft lately seems to be really good at being a "proof of concept developer." Which is cool and all that, but then people wait and forget why it was so cool. As a comparison, Apple holds back their tech till it is polished and ready for market, so people are excited and start literally lining up to get whatever it is... And when they get it for the most part they aren’t disappointed, because it is…

Others like Apple actually deliver their products, and they work exactly like advertised. Microsoft is well known for announcing and promising products/vapourware years in advance. Like the HoloLens Minecraft demonstration at E3 2015. What a betray to the public eye it was. HoloLens has for technical reasons a very narrow field of view, the 3D content is only visible in a small area of the view, and cannot deliver the high hopes that were faked in the E3 demo. In the end it's just another augmented reality glass in prototype stage that at the moment fails to deliver and general public would be very unhappy with it. To prevent negative reviews of their demo unit Microsoft of course selected the audience carefully, so you will find just a few objective articles that mention the current problems like the incredible small field of view. But don't fall for the PR hype, they have a lot of money to spend, without trying it out yourself.

What people also always forget, because they fail to mention it, is the high amount preparation to set such a demonstration up. You need a 3D laser scan of the room and all objects, everything has to be static and shouldn't be moved. Than you need several high precision tracking devices connected to a central computer. The augmented reality glass ("HoloLens") needs to be connected via cable as well, otherwise you get those ugly video lags (seen in the clip). And you will see even the girl often just half of the body if you are standing next to her, because the glass shows only in a small area in the center the 3D augmented graphics as overlay (semi-transparent), and around that area you see your normal view through the glass without the 3D. So it's very annoying that you have to turn your head the whole time to directly point it towards where you want to focus, otherwise you see nothing of relevancy in 3D at all. It's bigger problem than with virtual reality glasses that show a dark background around the visible area (if at all). So this technology isn't new, but to get it ready beside very rough prototypes that are of little use for general public, it will take another 3-5 years, that's for sure.

Re: Microsoft demos 'holoportation' 3D presence tech with HoloLens

#59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But only if they manage to drastically reduce/eliminate the latency that's present with video conferencing. It gets us one step closer by allowing virtual eye contact, but if the latency is still there, it will still be subpar to in-person interactions. The other thing that wasn't so evident by this video is that everyone you were taking to would have to be wearing Hololenses, so it will still be a bit awkward. Not t…

> The other thing that wasn't so evident by this video is that everyone you were taking to would have to be wearing Hololenses, so it will still be a bit awkward. I remember seeing the guy who invented the selfie stick present it to Canada's Dragon's Den: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bw7YbcoCkbs . My reaction was: this is ridiculous and stupid. Nobody will ever use that let alone buy it. Let's just say I was sligh…

You're sure it will take off. But at the same time you confess that you are very bad at predicting these kind of things. So, not sure what you're saying.

Re: Microsoft demos 'holoportation' 3D presence tech with HoloLens

#60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But only if they manage to drastically reduce/eliminate the latency that's present with video conferencing. It gets us one step closer by allowing virtual eye contact, but if the latency is still there, it will still be subpar to in-person interactions. The other thing that wasn't so evident by this video is that everyone you were taking to would have to be wearing Hololenses, so it will still be a bit awkward. Not t…

> The other thing that wasn't so evident by this video is that everyone you were taking to would have to be wearing Hololenses, so it will still be a bit awkward. I remember seeing the guy who invented the selfie stick present it to Canada's Dragon's Den: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bw7YbcoCkbs . My reaction was: this is ridiculous and stupid. Nobody will ever use that let alone buy it. Let's just say I was sligh…

That dragon's den episode is baffling. The guy's reason for not licensing it to other companies is baffling. His valuation is baffling. I could practically feel them trying to not look too eager to take his 30% while calmly forcing out the words.
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