Microsoft's research division does nothing but raise the quality bar with each new hologram and augmented reality experiment or prototype. With less than 48 hours until the launch of the HoloLens headset for developers, and as a warm-up, we come across Holoportation, a new project that explores the possibility of teleporting virtual avatars and reproducing all their movements in real time.
A Week of VR Launches
We are in the final days of March, and as expected, there are several announcements regarding virtual reality, augmented reality, and their hardware. Today marks the official debut of the Oculus Rift among consumers, and Palmer Luckey himself traveled to Alaska to deliver the first unit. The HTC Vive will begin its rounds next week, and the PlayStation VR aims for October. However, it would be madness to forget the Microsoft HoloLens and its "mixed reality". Those developers who decided to invest $3,000 will receive their special units next Wednesday, and from that day we expect to see dozens of projects on the Web. Meanwhile, Microsoft Research once again leaves us speechless by publishing a demo of its recent project Holoportation:
Holoportation: A New 3D Capture Platform
Holoportation, according to its official site, is a new 3D capture platform that allows creating, compressing, and transmitting three-dimensional models of high quality over the web in real time, or in more realistic terms, with minimal lag. The system combines the feed from multiple 3D cameras installed in a room, and the "virtual teleportation" is visualized with a HoloLens headset. The models have a high level of precision, but if necessary, it's possible to modify their main texture, so that each person could appear with an augmented reality suit or costume over their bodies.
A Complete Demonstration
The Holoportation demonstration is very complete, to the point that the video shows the local scene, the remote scene, and how the other person is projected in the HoloLens. Another very interesting aspect is that the platform isn't limited to concepts like videoconferencing and telepresence; it can also store the 3D session, which definitely gives an extra dimension to our potential digital memories. As always, there's a lot of work ahead, and I think we all imagine the replacement of HoloLens with holographic projection systems in the future, but Microsoft Research is undoubtedly on the right track.
