HoloLens App Envisions Immersive Future for Architecture and Construction

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Microsoft has recently released a video showing some of the architectural applications of HoloLens, the company’s untethered AR headset. The prototype app shows the device’s ability to improve communication between industry professionals through the use of immersive 3D models.

Trimble, a company focused on providing positioning technology for several industries, has partnered with Microsoft to introduce a new solution for professionals involved in architecture, engineering and construction. The prototype application used by HoloLens aims to give users and professional firms a handy way to view, modify, and virtually step into their creations on the fly.

See Also: Microsoft Shows New HoloLens Demos at Build 2015, “Hundreds of HoloLens” for Conference Goers to Try

“Literally hundreds of enterprises can be represented on a job site. Today the best way those company’s have to interact with each other is paper drawings. But people aren’t good at visualizing 3D,” says Doug Brent, VP of Technology Innovation at Trimble.

The architectural app was built “to improve quality, transparency and collaboration across the Design-Build-Operate lifecycle of buildings.”

Flavia, a Stanford grad student studying Civil and Environmental Engineering had a chance to try out the prototype app, suggesting that the app is potentially more than just a proof-of-concept.

The partnership with Trimble is only one of several collaborations that Microsoft announced at their ‘Build 2015’ conference in April. CAD modeling software companies Dassault Systèmes and Autodesk will also be working with Microsoft to support HoloLens’ Windows 10 environment.

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Well before the first modern XR products hit the market, Scott recognized the potential of the technology and set out to understand and document its growth. He has been professionally reporting on the space for nearly a decade as Editor at Road to VR, authoring more than 3,500 articles on the topic. Scott brings that seasoned insight to his reporting from major industry events across the globe.
  • Don Gateley

    More evidence that this tech is aimed at enterprise, not consumers.

    Either the FOV demonstrated at Build 2015 was just a limited prototype view or they continue to lie about it with these videos.

  • Pessimistic observer

    pretty interesting video here at 7min in alex mentions Microsoft hopes that other devices will come to be and run what they call Windows Holographic. I wonder what the oem licensing will look like for that windows sku.
    http://www.neowin.net/news/alex-kipman-talks-hololens-cortana-kinect-and-a-close-up-of-the-hardware