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BEACON TRANSCRIPT – You can help Microsoft develop the next HoloLens app. The company kicked off a new contest on Tuesday, inviting developers and creative content creators to muster up the best idea for the virtual-reality device, and Microsoft pledges to make it happen.
What’s so different about this contest is that Microsoft isn’t asking you to actually come up with the code for the app or develop the app itself. Instead, Microsoft has put up an announcement on a new site that asks users to suggest creative ideas before Jan. 11, 2016.
Microsoft promises to give the winner a front-row seat to the app’s whole process of development, giving him or her “weekly build reviews, Q&A sessions, and more.” The post also mentioned that Microsoft’s team of artists, engineers and designers will develop the winning app idea.
According to the latest policy revealed by Microsoft, all the app running on HoloLens are coded as “universal,” which means they are capable of running on Windows 10 smartphones, tablets, and PCs.
The special set of Windows Holographic APIs integrated in the HoloLens was demonstrated in an earlier event this year. The APIs can recognize inputs like the user’s gaze, something unheard of on other hardware platforms.
Microsoft’s strategy of offering an early-on demonstration – complete with a hands-on experience for the reporters and tech enthusiasts in the room – appears to be rather efficient. By wowing the interested public with demos of the HoloLens, the company wants to keep its fans asking for the HoloLens – which in turn will power app development.
It’s the best thing Microsoft can do in order to avoid another Windows Phone situation. So far, so good; the “final” version of the HoloLens was presented to the public in May in the form of a sleek mobile headset that distributes a holographic representation over a limited portion of your field of view.
Microsoft wants the device to start shipping in 2016, but the first roll out will be for developers only. The company’s site for ideas is a lot like its “UserVoice” feedback pages, where customers and users can suggest improvements for Microsoft products – anything from Microsoft’s OS to its Office Package and the Xbox.
So far, the feedback has been rather slim, suggesting an augmented piano teacher and a “real-world” Cortana. Other users are interested in ways of viewing and wield 3D graphs and charts in virtual space.
Image Source: Compass Surface
