Table Of ContentMicrosoft HoloLens
Developer's Guide
Create stunning and highly immersive 3D apps for your
Microsoft HoloLens
Dennis Vroegop
BIRMINGHAM - MUMBAI
Microsoft HoloLens Developer's Guide
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First published: July 2017
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Credits
Author Copy Editors
Dennis Vroegop Dhanya Baburaj
Safis Editing
Reviewers Project Coordinator
Jason M. Odom Devanshi Doshi
Vangos Pterneas
Commissioning Editor Proofreader
Amarabha Banerjee Safis Editing
Acquisition Editor Indexer
Larissa Pinto Tejal Daruwale Soni
Content Development Editor Graphics
Roshan Kumar Jason Monteiro
Technical Editor Production Coordinator
Murtaza Tinwala Shraddha Falebhai
About the Author
Dennis Vroegop is a managing director at Interknowlogy Europe, a software architect, a
speaker, and ten-time winner of the Microsoft MVP Award (C#, Surface, Hardware
Interaction Design and Development, Kinect for Windows, and Emerging Experiences).
He is a designer and developer of new ways to interact with people using multi-touch
systems and camera-based solutions.
Dennis feels most comfortable when leading teams to a better way of working. Software
development teams on the Microsoft platform, including but not limited to stakeholders,
product owners, product managers, developers, and customers, benefit from his knowledge
of good teamwork, quality assurance, and professional software development. He has been
developing software since the early 80s, starting out on the Commodore 64. He taught
himself to program the games that his friends ended up playing. He writes software in a
large number of languages and environments. After graduating in the field of computer
science from Amsterdam, Dennis started to work as a developer, but quickly took over the
role of a lead R&D engineer. After a couple of years, he started his own company, seeing
how most developers back then were not treated the way he wanted them to be treated. By
always mixing his technical skills with his management style, he quickly became someone
with whom people actually wanted to work.
In 2007, Dennis started to get into the world of Natural User Interfaces, driven by his
passion to provide everyone with access to information. His goal is to enable everyone,
regardless of income, capabilities, social background, and so on, to be able to get in touch
with computers. This led to the formation of Interknowlogy Europe, a company that aims at
getting great and easy-to-use software using technologies such as HoloLens into the world.
Dennis is the coauthor of the LinkedIn Learning video, Developing for Microsoft HoloLens. He
is also a proficient professional speaker at smaller and large events. He is the chairman of
the largest Dutch .NET usergroup--dotNed.
Acknowledgments
Even though there is only one name on the cover, a project such as this cannot be done
without the help of a lot of other people. I am forever grateful for all those who have helped
me get this project off the ground. First, a big thanks to all the people in the original
Emerging Experiences MVP group--Josh, Tim, Andras, Andreas, Nicolas, Gian Paolo,
Joanna, Bronwen, Dwight, and David. You guys rock! We were there where it all started.
A big thank you to my buddy James Ashley, another Rockstar EE MVP. We shared the
stage, we did the training, and we shaped the future while having a nice steak and a couple
of drinks. You've been a great source of inspiration for me. We need to spend more time
together.
Of course, my parents, who bought me my first computer even though they couldn't really
afford it--you got me on this path that I still love to travel on every single day.
My partner in crime at Interknowlogy Europe, Frank, whose passion for the HoloLens
matches mine, and that says something!
Last but most definitely not least--my wonderful and amazing daughter, Emma, and my
smart and beautiful wife, Diana--you were there all the time. All those days I was locked up
writing this book, leaving you alone, all those time I didn't see the point anymore, you got
me through. You always believed in me, no matter what I did. This book is as much yours
as it is mine. I will love you forever!
About the Reviewer
Jason Odom is a game developer with nearly 20 years of experience working on titles for
companies such as Activision and Take 2 Interactive, along with years of game
development teaching and mentoring experience. He is the founder of Thought Experiment,
a start-up mixed reality studio, currently working on HoloQuest and CrossTrainMR
properties for HoloLens. He recently authored the HoloLens Beginner's Guide for Packt.
When he is not making software and applications, he is a loud and proud mixed reality
evangelist with a highly active YouTube channel, and he is a prolific technology blogger for
Next Reality.
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Table of Contents
Preface
1
Chapter 1: Lets Begin!
6
Welcome to the HoloLens! 6
The device 7
A wearable computer 7
The sensors 8
Cameras 8
Microphones 8
Holographic lenses 9
Spatial speakers 9
Processors 9
The device in a nutshell 10
Displaying 3D images 11
Wearing the device 12
Turning the device on for the first time 12
Learning the gestures 13
Calibrating the device 14
The device portal 15
Overview of the portal 15
The different menus in the portal 17
The Views menu in the portal 17
Writing your first holographic application 24
The tools we need to write software 24
Your very first application 25
Deploying your first app to the emulator 26
How to use the emulator 28
Deploying the app to the device 29
Deploying through Wi-Fi 30
Deploying through USB 32
Let's have a look at the code 32
The structure of the project 34
Inside the AppView class 35
Using Unity3D to create great holographic apps 36
Our first HoloApp in Unity3D 37
Fixing the camera 40
Changing the position 40
Changing the background color 40
Adding holographic objects 41
Create a sample script 43
