Last month Microsoft announced that its HoloLens headset was finally going to reach people beyond the walls of the company, thanks to the $3000 dev kit edition that became available for pre-order. And ever since then, the company has been highlighting how developers can take advantage of the platform’s capabilities. But today, the company is announcing a new app, designed for non-technical users.
The new app that Microsoft is showcasing is called Actiongram, and its part of the first wave of development projects that are being pushed alongside HoloLens. Actiongram was designed to allow people who are less technically inclined than coders, to still use holograms and mixed reality to tell stories and express themselves.
Actiongram is basically the equivalent of clip art in the world of holograms. It lets users select pre-rendered holograms and embed them in the real world beside themselves. Then users can record and share what they create.
It’s a very simplistic app, but nonetheless one that may prove a good starting point for those interested in seeing what holograms and mixed reality can do, not to mention one that has the potential of getting people to actually start developing their own holograms and mixed reality content.
But the app is also an example of what developers can do on the HoloLens with the skills they already possess. Microsoft notes that Actiongram was developed in roughly six months by a team of five people, and goes on to mention that any development team used to working on mobile apps can quickly switch over to the Hololens platform.
Microsoft will begin shipping HoloLens headsets into the real world at the end of this month and the company has indicated that it will take its time and get the headset right for the development and business community first, and only then release consumer versions of the HoloLens. So you’ll still have to wait a while before you can experience it for yourself.