MRTK Unity
14 TopicsMRTK3 broadens cross-platform interoperability with support for Snapdragon Spaces
Mixed reality app and game creators use a broad range of tools and hardware to support their solutions and creative vision. According to SlashData (2022), “Thirty-seven percent of AR/VR practitioners target both AR and VR and 61% of AR/VR developers target three or more platforms”. That’s why cross-platform tools, like MRTK3, that work across the full spectrum of mixed reality devices are important to making app creation less fragmented and, therefore, less time-consuming. The growing adoption of OpenXR has been key to moving towards a more builder-friendly MR ecosystem. OpenXR is an open royalty-free API standard from Khronos that provides native access to a wide range of devices from many vendors across the mixed reality spectrum. Because MRTK3 is built natively on OpenXR, it is highly portable across OpenXR-based devices including HoloLens 2, Meta Quest 2, Magic Leap 2, and Ultraleap, among others. And now - we are pleased to share that cross-platform interoperability is expanding with support for Qualcomm's Snapdragon Spaces. Now developers using MRTK have even more places to land their applications with little to no platform-specific code. Snapdragon Spaces enables developers to build immersive applications for AR glasses from scratch or add head-worn AR features to existing Android smartphone applications. Because it is conformant to the Khronos OpenXR runtime specification, developers will find that many MRTK3 features work out of the box. For those targeting Snapdragon Spaces, they can now use MRTK3 Public Preview to build rich and expressive volumetric UI, like touchable sliders, buttons, toggles, and more. In addition, MRTK3 makes it easier to build performant applications with highly optimized shaders and rendering tools specifically tuned for mobile devices. In the near future, when MRTK3’s full range of capabilities is implemented on Snapdragon Spaces, developers will be able to do even more with the toolkit. This includes data binding, theming and a more straightforward way to implement object manipulations, like grabbing and resizing 3D objects. We are thrilled to see Qualcomm and so many other platform and device makers coalesce around open standards. This will ensure that developers’ investments in OpenXR-based tools will remain valuable even as new devices and platforms emerge. More importantly, reducing platform fragmentation will allow developers more time to innovate, solve problems, and delight users. Get a sneak peek on using MRTK3 in Snapdragon Spaces from our guest appearance at the Qualcomm Snapdragon Summit. To learn more and stay up to date on MRTK3 Public Preview, join the Mixed Reality Developer Program today.8.5KViews3likes0CommentsTake the HoloLens 2 App Dev Fundamentals Challenge.
If you've considered exploring HoloLens development, there has never been a better time to get started. During the month of January, you can join other learners committed to taking the first step by signing up for the HoloLens 2 App Development Fundamentals Challenge. When you join the challenge, you'll be assigned to one of four teams in a competition to see who will have the most learners complete the required training by January 31, 2022. The training includes a series of step-by-step Exercises and Knowledge Checks that will show you the basics of HoloLens 2 app development including how to: Configure Unity and set up a project with the Mixed Reality Toolkit Add hand interactions to manipulate objects Position, organize and lay out objects Use solvers to create intelligent object placements Add buttons, dynamic menus, and descriptions to objects Use controls to manipulate objects Enable eye-tracking and voice commands Anchor objects to the real world Add spatial audio to an application Use speech recognition and transcription Integrate to cloud services like custom vision and bot services Create a Holographic Remoting app to visualize 3D content Sound fun? You bet! Sound challenging? Indeed. We suspect it will take around 6 hours to complete the exercises once the tools are installed and ready. The modular design of the training makes it easy to pause and resume at any time, so you'll have the flexibility to go at your own pace. Don’t delay too long, as you must finish by the end of the month to help your team win. Don't have a HoloLens 2? That's okay. While it is always the most fun way to interact with your holographic apps in the real world, you'll be able to learn the basics of developing a mixed reality application and view your progress in Unity's editor or by deploying it to the HoloLens 2 Emulator. If learning about MR (Mixed Reality) is on your to-do list, don't delay! Join the Challenge and find yourself on the leaderboard with other #holowhos, #mixedrealities, #metawhats, and #deliverators getting a jump on their 2022 skilling goals.10KViews7likes0CommentsMRTK 2.7 is Out Now with Official Support for OpenXR
On May 27 th , 2021 we released MRTK 2.7, so you know we had to be up to something special. This release brings official support for OpenXR as we move the Mixed Reality Toolkit to Unity 2020.3 LTS. In addition, we’ve packed in a bunch of new features and bug fixes to improve the developer experience for Mixed Reality Devs. Like what you see? Download MRTK today from the Mixed Reality Feature Tool or from Github.5.3KViews2likes0CommentsMRTK 2.6 and the New MRTK Docs Experience are available now!
MRTK 2.6 is available for download through the Mixed Reality Feature Tool, a new way to discover, update and add Mixed Reality packages to Unity projects. For information on how to get started, see Welcome to the Mixed Reality Feature Tool. We’ve migrated our documentation for MRTK-Unity from Github to a new MRTK docs website! Starting with MRTK 2.6, new docs will only be available on Microsoft’s official docs website. MRTK APIs are also now discoverable through the .Net API browser. This puts information alongside other Microsoft Mixed Reality content you so you can stay closer to the action while learning about new tools. Please note that feature documentation and API references on Github will no longer be updated.6.7KViews2likes3CommentsHoloLens 2 Development Edition is now available in the United States
After strong demand for HoloLens 2, we are excited to announce availability of HoloLens 2 Development Edition in the United States. We are expanding to Canada, Germany, France, UK, Ireland, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Switzerland, and Italy by the end of the year.56KViews13likes27Comments