(Yahoo) – Microsoft Corp. unveiled software tools designed to make it easier and less expensive for people to access virtual reality and augmented reality content, and for more creators to build these digital and holographic worlds.
The company’s Mesh software will enable users to work and play together virtually by interacting with the same set of holograms on devices at various price points and from different manufacturers, ranging from Microsoft’s $3,500 HoloLens augmented reality goggles and Facebook Inc.’s Oculus and other specialized VR headsets to cell phones and computers where users can get a two-dimensional view.
Mesh also lets multiple people see the same holograms from different locations, allowing for events such as concerts or company meetings where one user attends in person and the other “holoports in” from home.
“You can be anywhere as a hologram or an avatar, and it’s not just you,” Microsoft Chief Executive Officer Satya Nadella said in an interview. “You now have not just yourself but all of your co-workers or your friends with you and you can do things together, not just with real objects, but with holograms.”
In a demonstration, Microsoft Technical Fellow Alex Kipman described the product and answered questions through his holographic avatar — a torso, bearded head, and pair of disembodied hands — using both a HoloLens and an HP Inc. Reverb headset in turn. READ MORE
