Did you know that Microsoft also developed Windows Holographic, a platform designed to support augmented and mixed reality applications? Introduced as an integral part of Windows 10the Redmond company today announces an important update capable of integrating with Windows 11.
First of all, what is Windows Holographic? It is an advanced tool that provides a common infrastructure useful for development of experiences ed applications that combine the physical world with digital elements. In other words, Windows Holographic provides an environment where virtual objects they can coexist and interact with the surrounding physical environment.
One of the best-known devices that takes advantage of Windows Holographic is HoloLensan AR viewer which introduced the concept of “holographic computing“. Users can see virtual objects overlaid on the real world through the headset, which can detect the positioning of digital objects in the surrounding physical space.
What’s new in Windows Holographic
Windows Holographic 23H2 it is the latest update proposed by the Redmond company which, according to what was declared, integrates multiple improvements. In a long note, Microsoft says it has listened to the feedback of those who already use the Windows Holographic platform. He then added theauthentication through badge security with support for NFC readers, useful for unlocking this functionality. Using a player NFC USB-Cthe HoloLens 2 device can integrate with FIDO2 NFC compatible cards supported by Azure Active Directory.
End users can also benefit from a viewfinder for the camera which shows what will be captured in an image or video, from improved hand tracking compared to the past and from the implementation of several optimizations related to the virtual keyboard. Just on the subject of virtual keyboardthe new Windows Holographic improves the dictation experience, increases thereliability of writing swipe-to-typeoptimizes the keyboard suggestions presented to the user and the audio feedback as they type.
Owners of the headset HoloLens 2 who did not save their eye tracking calibration (because it skipped or failed during the initial setup), can now use Windows Holographic 23H2 to update the interpupillary distance (IPD) as soon as the user puts on the device. This results in a considerably smoother user experience, especially for close interactions with holograms which involve pressing buttons or typing on a virtual keyboard.
Microsoft ecosystem for virtual and mixed reality
Microsoft operating system supports both Windows Holographic and Windows Mixed Reality (WMR). With WMR the idea is to open the platform for augmented and mixed reality also to non-Microsoft devices by focusing on aopen architecture.
Windows Mixed Reality is the software platform that supports a wide variety of viewers, while Windows Holographic is a part of it, mainly used with devices such as HoloLens. Both technologies are part of theecosystem Microsoft’s broadest for virtual and mixed reality.
To add the icon that allows you to access headset settings in Windows 10 and Windows 11, you can type cmd in the search box, choose Run as administrator then type the following:
reg add HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Holographic /v FirstRunSucceeded /t REG_DWORD /d 1 /f
Pressing Windows+Iamong various icons available in the Windows settings 10 and Windows 11, you will see it appear as well Mixed reality.
The removing the icon can be requested by typing the following:
reg add HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Holographic /v FirstRunSucceeded /t REG_DWORD /d 0 /f
