This document discusses building mixed reality experiences with Unity for HoloLens and immersive headsets. It defines mixed reality as artificially created sensory experiences that combine physical and digital realities. The document outlines hardware details for various Windows Mixed Reality headsets and describes tools for building mixed reality apps, including the Universal Windows Platform, spatial mapping, and sharing experiences across devices.

1. Building Mixed Reality
Experiences with Unity
for HoloLens and Immersive Headsets
Nick Landry

5. Defining Mixed Reality

7. The state of things as they “actually
exist” through our human senses
without any technology.
Artificially created sensory experiences of
people, environments and objects, which can
include sight, touch, hearing, and smell.
PHYSICAL REALITY VIRTUAL REALITY

8. MIXED REALITY
VIRTUAL REALITYPHYSICAL REALITY

9. Physical Reality Digital RealityMixed Reality
Windows Mixed Reality Holographic Device (See-through)
Windows Mixed Reality Immersive Devices (Opaque)
Windows Mixed Reality:
• Includes Perception / Environment Awareness
• Any Mix of People, Places, or Things
Mixed Reality Spectrum
AR Today VR Today

10. REALITY VIRTUALITY

11. REALITY VIRTUALITY

12. REALITY VIRTUALITY

13. REALITY VIRTUALITY

14. REALITY VIRTUALITY

16. Hardware details for development
edition devices from Acer and HP
▪ Two high-resolution LCD at 1440 x 1440
▪ 2.89” diagonal display size (x2)
▪ Front hinged display
▪ 95° horizontal field of view
▪ Display refresh rate up to 90 Hz (native)
▪ Built-in audio out and microphone support through
3.5mm jack
▪ Single cable with HDMI 2.0 (display) and USB 3.0 (data)
for connectivity
▪ 4.00m/0.60m removable cable
▪ Inside-out tracking

17. Windows Mixed Reality collection
Immersive headsets
Powered by
Windows Mixed Reality

18. Powered by
Windows Mixed Reality
Hardware details for
Samsung Odyssey HMD
▪ Two high-resolution OLED at 1440 x 1600
▪ 110° horizontal field of view
▪ Display refresh rate up to 90 Hz (native)
▪ built-in premium AKG headphones
and dual array mics
▪ Single cable with HDMI 2.0 (display)
and USB 3.0 (data) for connectivity
▪ 6 DOF inside-out position tracking
▪ Release date: November 6, 2017

23. What is HoloLens?
Holograms enhance the
real world
Microsoft HoloLens is the first, fully untethered holographic computer
that redefines personal computing and empowers you in new ways.
New ways to connect,
create, and explore
A more natural way to
interact
Advanced technology
from Microsoft

25. Windows Mixed Reality
Universal Windows Platform

26. One platform. Multiple Windows devices.
One Universal Windows Platform
Windows Mixed Reality is built into the Windows SDK that
developers already use today.
The Universal Windows Platform makes it easy to build an
application that scales from HoloLens to other mixed reality
headsets.
• Target windows.holographic for holographic headsets
• Target windows.desktop for immersive headsets
Windows is the only platform unifying the mixed reality
ecosystem, providing inside-out tracking for headsets, a
single platform and standardized inputs for developers, and
a consistent interface with a single store for customers.​

34. Models Materials Textures Shaders Sounds Scripts
Cursor
prefabs
Sharing
prefab
Spatial
prefabs
Utilities Shaders Tests
Gaze
Input
Gesture
Input
Voice
Input
Spatial
Anchors
Spatial
Mapping
Spatial
Sound

36. Gaze

37. Gesture: Tap & Place

38. Shared Experience

39. Shared Mixed Reality

41. Try your app on the HoloLens emulator today
You need:
Visual Studio 2015 or 2017
64-bit Windows 10 Pro, Enterprise, or
Education with a 64-bit CPU (4+ cores)
8GB RAM
GPU (DirectX 11, WDDM 1.2 driver)
Windows 10 SDK (10.0.10586 or newer)
HoloLens Emulator (requires, Hardware-
assisted virtualization, SLAT & DEP)
A UWP app that builds for x86
Unity not needed for 2D UWP apps
dev.microsoft.com/windows/mixed-reality

43. http://aka.ms/mr
“Hello World” Introduction (Origami) Gaze Input
Gesture Input Voice Input Spatial Sound
Spatial Mapping Shared Experiences Sharing Mixed Reality

44. Galaxy Explorer
Open source application available in the store. The idea was voted by the
community and originally built for HoloLens. It now supports all mixed reality
devices, and is a useful end-to-end demonstration of how to build a Unity app for
Windows Mixed Reality.
Mixed Reality Toolkit
Library with many component that make it easier to build mixed reality apps,
including plug-ins for Unity. Some of the more popular components are the
sharing services for multiplayer mixed reality apps and spectator view.
Academy Tutorial Apps
The tutorials are great starting points for your app, and they improve with
community contributions too.

45. Work with our teams or our agencies
Join the community
Online tools & resources
dev.windows.com/mixedreality
Download the tools
aka.ms/hololensdevtools
Follow the training
aka.ms/holographicacademy
Forums.hololens.com
Questions, discussion, and feedback
from the mixed reality development
community.
Github/microsoft
aka.ms/GalaxyExplorer
aka.ms/holotoolkitunity
aka.ms/holotoolkit
aka.ms/windowsdeviceportalwrapper
aka.ms/holographicacademygithub
aka.ms/MRcommunity
Microsoft Technology Centers
Experience HoloLens & discuss core business uses
aka.ms/iwantmr
Join MR@MS: A program tailored to your needs,
providing guidance and support from ideation to
publish.
aka.ms/MRcommunity
Technical Evangelists - Connect with one of our technical evangelists in your area.
Meetups: join one of the hundreds of meetups around the world
aka.ms/agencies
Agency partners have HoloLens
development expertise and dedicated
teams to take on application
development for clients.
mpcbdesk@microsoft.com
Our teams will work with you from envisioning,
to proof of concepts, all the way to
deployment.

46. Acer - Windows Mixed Reality
Development Edition
Microsoft HoloLens
Development Edition
Available today on microsoftstore.com
Shipping to : Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Ireland, Japan, New
Zealand, United Kingdom and United States. (pre-order available soon
for China)
English only
HoloLens Development Edition: $3000
HoloLens Commercial Suite: $5000
For more information: www.hololens.com
Sign up today on aka.ms/iwantmr
Shipping to: TBA (please consult with respective OEM announcements)
Languages: English, French, German, Chinese (simplified) and Japanese

48. Thank You
Nick Landry
Sr. Technical Evangelist, Microsoft
activenick@microsoft.com
slideshare.net/ActiveNick
github.com/ActiveNick
@ActiveNick

49. © 2017 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
Microsoft, Windows, Microsoft Surface and other product names are or may be registered trademarks and/or trademarks in the U.S. and/or other countries.
The information herein is for informational purposes only and represents the current view of Microsoft Corporation as of the date of this presentation.
Because Microsoft must respond to changing market conditions, it should not be interpreted to be a commitment on the part of Microsoft, and Microsoft
cannot guarantee the accuracy of any information provided after the date of this presentation.
MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS, IMPLIED OR STATUTORY, AS TO THE INFORMATION IN THIS PRESENTATION.