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[Dreamwriter]

At Microsoft's event today, they revealed the HoloLens game "Project X-Ray"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1NkoS0vNQTY

And here's Magic Leap's demo video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kPMHcanq0xM

Project X-Ray looks more realistic, but still has quite a bit similar with Magic Leap's game.

 

[ZhugeEX]

This was a really good demo.

Really shows the capability of the device and if they can get an actual experience like this in a consumer product or business grade product then a lot of great things can come from this tech. I'm not just talking gaming ofc.

 

[ChosenPredator]

that shit is the future really cool demo

 

[Stilton Disco]

All I could think while watching this is that it's a fancy version of that face raiders game that comes preinstalled on the 3DS.

I mean it's clever, and the technology could do amazing things, but I just don't see this as a particularly compelling tech for gaming. It just feels like a step back from VR to me.

 

[ZhugeEX]

It just feels like a step back from VR to me.

That's because it's AR, not VR.

 

[EVIL]

nice demo, even when you know that what you see is a tiny rectangle the size of a standard printer sheet of paper held out at arms length

 

[CassidyIzABeast]

This VR and hologram stuff is gonna be really dope 20 years from now.

 

[RowdyReverb]

nice demo, even when you know that what you see is a tiny rectangle the size of a standard printer sheet of paper held out at arms length

Well, it is a developer prototype after all. The concept is what's important

 

[Stilton Disco]

That's because it's AR, not VR.

Yeah, which like I say, feels like a step back from VR for gaming.

I mean don't get me wrong, AR looks vastly better for productivity and non gaming applications to VR to me, but specifically for games, the only thing it looks to be an improvement over VR is for real world spatial awareness, and I'd say the Vives solution is far superior overall.

 

[Samurai G0SU]

thanks for posting, that was some really cool stuff!

Kind of stiff, but im liking the direction they are going.

 

[Qwark]

How will the hololens know if you get hit by a projectile? Will it be able to tell when it hits your body or only when it hits the hololens? That seems like a major hurdle for this game.

 

[RowdyReverb]

Yeah, which like I say, feels like a step back from VR for gaming.

I mean don't get me wrong, AR looks vastly better for productivity and non gaming applications to VR to me, but specifically for games, the only thing it looks to be an improvement over VR is for real world spatial awareness, and I'd say the Vives solution is far superior overall.

This is a self-contained device though. You could play games on this anywhere that you have room

Spoiler

and don't mind looking schizophrenic

. Also, it doesn't totally take you out of the real world, so it can in theory be a more social experience.
VR is fantastic if your goal is immersive experiences, but that doesn't encompass all of gaming.

How will the hololens know if you get hit by a projectile? Will it be able to tell when it hits your body or only when it hits the hololens? That seems like a major hurdle for this game.

Probably would have to set up a Kinect somewhere in the room for that kind of thing.

 

[Bear Force One]

nice demo, even when you know that what you see is a tiny rectangle the size of a standard printer sheet of paper held out at arms length

This tech needs 10 more years in the oven IMO.

 

[Bsigg12]

This tech needs 10 more years in the oven IMO.

Probably but getting the first version out the door is a pretty big step.

 

[Bear Force One]

Probably but getting the first version out the door is a pretty big step.

I'd counter with they should keep it lab based until the FOV is something that's worth marketing.

 

[hawk2025]

The way it was shown is just silly.

Knowing the FOV limitations kills all the magic of this particular presentation. That giant spider coming out of the wall was probably only half-visible to the actual player, for example.

This type of application is precisely the one that will suffer the most due to the limited FOV, I think.

 

[backbreaker65]

MEH, somethings are better left on the R&D floor.

 

[PanicFreak]

I'd counter with they should keep it lab based until the FOV is something that's worth marketing.

The first iPhone's screen was a real piece of crap; yet, it was iterated on and now the screens are awesome and huge.

 

[EventHorizon]

With the high price that HaloLens will probably sell for, what's the point?

 

[Dreamwriter]

How will the hololens know if you get hit by a projectile? Will it be able to tell when it hits your body or only when it hits the hololens? That seems like a major hurdle for this game.

It knows where your head is, where the floor is, and where your hand is. So it could probably figure out in a general sense where you are in 3D space. Won't be perfect, but good enough for a simple game.

 

[Maintenance]

Yeah, I still remember Milo. Did they fix the FOV yet?

 

[hawk2025]

Yeah, I still remember Milo. Did they fix the FOV yet?

The current level will not be changed for the first release, IIRC.

 

[Michael F. Assbender]

Meanwhile, you're actually viewing the world thru a postage stamp sized window.

 

[Reallink]

His movements comically slow and steady, not sure if they're scared of the stage demo fucking up (a la Avatar foot) or if the device straight up doesn't work as people are imagining it yet.

 

[Dreamwriter]

Meanwhile, you're actually viewing the world thru a postage stamp sized window.

It's not that bad - Microsoft released a video actually showing the visible area, and people who have tried it said it looked pretty accurate (aside from letterboxing the video)

 

[AmyS]

That gauntlet beam shooter makes me think of Metroid Prime.


Anyway, HoloLens seems like a long, long way from being a consumer product for games. Further off than when Oculus Rift was first shown several years ago (late 2012 or early 2013 I think)

 

[Diablohead]

With the high price that HaloLens will probably sell for, what's the point?

At this point stuff like this is to sell to developers and those interested in development, like with every other new expensive thing after a few years it will become more affordable for everyone.

 

[EventHorizon]

Yeah, I still remember Milo. Did they fix the FOV yet?

From what I understand, the small FOV is due to the physical limitations of the ability to bend light through the display. This is not like the final optimization pass to improve performance of a game. New materials and breakthroughs are needed to be able to increase the FOV.

At this point stuff like this is to sell to developers and those interested in development, like with every other new expensive thing after a few years it will become more affordable for everyone.

The first Oculus Rift dev kit went for $300, while HoloLens Development Edition is coming Q1 2016 for $3,000. There is literally an order of magnitude difference in price. The point I am making is that few devs are going to develop apps for this product because it is going to cost too much. How many consumer units will Microsoft be able to sell with a price that high? This isn't going to be a consumer product for quite a while.

 

[Bear Force One]

The first iPhone's screen was a real piece of crap; yet, it was iterated on and now the screens are awesome and huge.

It was wholly usable. If it had a 4" screen but only 1" was usable and it cost thousands of dollars, then it would be a carry.

I get that they want the tech to continue (I do too!), but this IMO is poisoning the well.

 

[SephCast]

It's not that bad - Microsoft released a video actually showing the visible area, and people who have tried it said it looked pretty accurate (aside from letterboxing the video)

I went to E3 and tried the hololens halo execution. the FOV was pretty much like this, maybe a little bit smaller.

 

[Maintenance]

From what I understand, the small FOV is due to the physical limitations of the ability to bend light through the display. This is not like the final optimization pass to improve performance of a game. New materials and breakthroughs are needed to be able to increase the FOV.

The current level will not be changed for the first release, IIRC.

Good to know.

The first Oculus Rift dev kit went for $300, while HoloLens Development Edition is coming Q1 2016 for $3,000. There is literally an order of magnitude difference in price. The point I am making is that few devs are going to develop apps for this product because it is going to cost too much. How many consumer units will Microsoft be able to sell with a price that high? This isn't going to be a consumer product for quite a while.

3k for the dev kit? Even the defunct Google Glass was 1,5k.

 

[Alx]

How will the hololens know if you get hit by a projectile? Will it be able to tell when it hits your body or only when it hits the hololens? That seems like a major hurdle for this game.

Same way a regular FPS decides when you get hit or not I suppose, in both cases you control the head/camera, and the game has arbitrary rules to decide where your body/hitbox is, relative to that camera position.

 

[Shenmue]

It's not that bad - Microsoft released a video actually showing the visible area, and people who have tried it said it looked pretty accurate (aside from letterboxing the video)

Wow that is pretty small...

Hopefully they'll fix it in 2.0.

 

[cyberheater]

Looks absolutely phenomenal.

 

[naitosan]

The first Oculus Rift dev kit went for $300, while HoloLens Development Edition is coming Q1 2016 for $3,000. There is literally an order of magnitude difference in price. The point I am making is that few devs are going to develop apps for this product because it is going to cost too much. How many consumer units will Microsoft be able to sell with a price that high? This isn't going to be a consumer product for quite a while.

Remember Oculus Rift DK2 kit requires a PC to run while Hololens has built in CPU and other things. You can run it by switching it on without a PC or so.

 

[Dreamwriter]

They did say the first version of HoloLens would be targeted at Enterprise users and would be fairly pricey.

 

[AndyD]

The way it was shown is just silly.

Knowing the FOV limitations kills all the magic of this particular presentation. That giant spider coming out of the wall was probably only half-visible to the actual player, for example.

This type of application is precisely the one that will suffer the most due to the limited FOV, I think.

Which is precisely why they are not showing it that way. A live feed, even if in the corner, of what he sees vs. the simulated whole environment would go a long way.

 

[Qwark]

Same way a regular FPS decides when you get hit or not I suppose, in both cases you control the head/camera, and the game has arbitrary rules to decide where your body/hitbox is, relative to that camera position.

I don't think it's comparable to a regular FPS. In a regular game, the game knows exactly how big the player model is and where all parts of it are. That's not possible with Hololens unless there's a camera that follows the lower body.

It knows where your head is, where the floor is, and where your hand is. So it could probably figure out in a general sense where you are in 3D space. Won't be perfect, but good enough for a simple game.

I think this is what will likely be implemented. Not perfect by any means, but probably the best implementation without using other hardware.

 

[JordanN]

Soon....

 

[TIMtationX]

The fact that they keep showing these misleading demos is extremely aggravating.

 

[Alx]

I don't think it's comparable to a regular FPS. In a regular game, the game knows exactly how big the player model is and where all parts of it are. That's not possible with Hololens unless there's a camera that follows the lower body.

The game knows where the limbs are because it decided arbitrarily where they were, the player has no control of them.
In the AR game it could just as well position a virtual character model based on the headset absolute position, wherever the real limbs are.

 

[StoppedInTracks]

Looks incredible. The music and uhh... graphics (?) reminded me of a new Metroid Prime concept game.

This costs $3000, correct?

 

[Dreamwriter]

This costs $3000, correct?

Well, the dev kit cost $3000 - chances are the real first release will be cheaper, but still pricey - like $1000-$1500 or something (they said it would be targeted at businesses at first). Most dev kits cost a lot more than the real thing (Oculus's $350 dev kit wasn't the normal, XBox One and PS4 dev kits cost thousands).

 

[Starfield]

We Star Wars Episode lV now

 

[Ol No Bones]

Chips will get smaller and more powerful, fov will get better and this first iteration will no doubt be clunky as hell to what we get in some years. Its an exciting first step.

 

[DopeyFish]

a good proof of concept

 

[Prevolition]

I predict the guy's pose at 4:24 will become a meme.

 

[Thrakier]

They did say the first version of HoloLens would be targeted at Enterprise users and would be fairly pricey.

And because it is so enterpris-y, they show it with a pretty stupid gimmicky game and a "power glove" like gadget. Makes sense.

 

[Zedox]

Devkits always cost way more than consumer products. I'm excited for the AR future.

 

[Purple Cheeto]

These misleading/faked demos are probably doing more harm than good for the AR industry. The stuff they promise and the reality are so far apart that making people think otherwise is just gonna hamper interest.