Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Windows 10 Build 15048 Has a Windows Mixed Reality Demo You Can Try (betanews.com)

Posted by EditorDavid on from the insider-previews dept.

Microsoft's big push into mixed reality involves headsets from multiple manufacturers (including ASUS, Dell, HP, Lenovo), and developer kits with Acer's headset will begin a phased rollout this month. But Windows 10's latest "Insider Preview" build already includes a mixed reality simulator with a first-person 3D environment that can be navigated with the W, A, S and D keys. Slashdot reader Mark Wilson writes: From the look of the changelog for Windows 10 build 15048 that was released a few days ago to Insiders, it looked to be little more than a bug fixing release. But in fact Microsoft has already started to include references to -- and even a portal for -- Windows Mixed Reality. We have seen reference to Windows Holographic in Windows 10 before, but this is the first time there has been anything to play with. It coincides nicely with Microsoft revealing that Windows Mixed Reality is the new name for Windows Holographic, and it gives Insiders the chance to not only see if their computer meets the recommended specs, but also to try out a Windows Mixed reality simulation.

20 of 42 comments (clear)

  1. That can be navigated with the W, A, S and D keys by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    Really impressive technology coming from Microsoft, keep it up!

  2. Microsoft! by jenningsthecat · · Score: 1

    Blurring the line between reality and fiction since 1975!

    --
    'The Economy' is a giant Ponzi scheme whose most pitiable suckers are the youngest among us and the yet-unborn.
  3. Re:Video Here by Lisandro · · Score: 1

    It is kinda cute how the video narrator gets so excited about that.

  4. Re:Keep it coming! by DontBeAMoran · · Score: 1

    Hurray! A little bit longer leash!

    --
    #DeleteFacebook
  5. Will it have Clippy? by fibonacci8 · · Score: 4, Funny

    It looks like Second Life and Microsoft Bob had a child.

    --
    Inheritance is the sincerest form of nepotism.
    1. Re:Will it have Clippy? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Let it be knows as: Second Bob

    2. Re:Will it have Clippy? by R3d+M3rcury · · Score: 1

      I gotta admit, I was less than thrilled.

      I assumed that the concept of "mixed reality" was less like "virtual reality" and more like "augmented reality." So I watched the video and assumed that the house was supposed to be real. And the guy is talking about how I can scan my actual chair and create something similar in my "virtual world"? Why do I care? Oh, and a record player represents music. I assume I can leaf through a bunch of albums and singles kind of like a I used to do versus that whole searching thing...

      I mean, okay, I live in a shit-box apartment in Queens but I can virtually make it look like I live in a gorgeous beach-side apartment. And if I decide I want to go out on the balcony of my virtual beach-side apartment, I have to teleport there because there's an actual physical wall that will keep me from walking out (though it will warn me if it looks like I'm about to walk into a real-world wall.).

      And this is exciting because...? Who cares?

    3. Re:Will it have Clippy? by youngone · · Score: 1

      I gotta admit, I was less than thrilled.

      I think this every time I have the chance to test VR, and I suspect most other people do too.

      VR will go the way of 3D TV's.

    4. Re: Will it have Clippy? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Don't you mean the second round of VR since I was doing VR in 1997 with a vfx-1 helmet.

      -GeekPoet

  6. Re:Video Here by Theaetetus · · Score: 1

    The graphics are stunning for 1990. I haven't seen such cutting edge 3D since VRML:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7CXdQWFMcRk

    ... is this a joke? The comments make it look legit, but the narrator's getting enthused about things that have been available since version one of the Rift. And when he walks through the wall at the end and sees that the backgrounds are all 2D planes, his comment is that he feels like he's in the Matrix... which came out in 1999? Not sure if it's Poe's Law or not, but if this does represent Microsoft's prototype, they should just close up shop.

  7. So does that include... by jez9999 · · Score: 1

    ... a reality in which Windows 10 doesn't suck?

    --
    == Jez ==
    Do you miss Firefox? Try Pale Moon.
    1. Re:So does that include... by rtb61 · · Score: 1

      The mixed reality where M$ monitors all your activity 24/7. Think of the privacy delights of altered reality, glasses that you put on the moment you wake and only are allowed to take off the moment you go to bed. Ahh, wonderful, thank you and fuck off M$.

      I'll wait for the Linux version that watches out for you privacy the moment you put them on and only stops trying to protect your privacy the moment you take them off ie 'Warning, Probe Attempting, source M$, shutting down access'. They are becoming very much like a sexually transmitted disease, fun to go without protection but it is a miserable experience there in after, especially trying to get rid of them, not quite Aids yet but they are getting awfully close.

      --
      Chaos - everything, everywhere, everywhen
  8. Re:Video Here by JediJorgie · · Score: 1

    The graphics are just place holders. The important part is getting the infrastructure into Windows to support AR/VR on every computer running Windows.

    The Rift also does not have a third generation Kinect attached to it that can scan your environment while doing inside-out tracking without any external cameras/base-stations? That is what all the devices from MS partners will bring to the table.

  9. Re:Human extinction movement by kronix1986 · · Score: 1

    r/The_Donald is leaking again.

  10. How about a reality where Windows doesn't suck? by damn_registrars · · Score: 1, Interesting

    If it could offer me a reality where Windows doesn't make me miserable 40 hours a week, that would be great. I've had to start dealing with Windows Server 2012R2 and it makes me want to shove hot pokers in my eyes to escape the pain of the layout of the new GUI. On top of that the enormous flaw in the .NET implementation on it also breaks some of the applications that are most critical to my work, and nobody seems to give a shit about that problem.

    I would set up a VM inside of the 2012 server to run 7, except we're already running 2012 as a VM on a Linux system - by which point I can no longer make 64 bit virtualization a reality. And of course stacking my turtles that high doesn't seem like the greatest idea either...

    --
    Damn_registrars has no butt-hole. Damn_registrars has no use for a butt-hole.
  11. Left handed? by ChunderDownunder · · Score: 1

    I'd prefer I J K L, burned into muscle memory since Lode Runner on the Apple ][+

  12. WINDOWS 10 == NEVER by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Windows 10, and likely all future versions of Windows, do not exist for me. An operating system which snoops, displays advertisements, and updates, all without me explicitly opting in, and all without the ability to fully, easily, and perpetually opt out, is totally unacceptable.

  13. Missed naming opportunity. by JeffreyBPetersen · · Score: 1

    I can't believe they didn't call it Windows Windows...

  14. WASD by Tomahawk · · Score: 2

    I never liked the WASD keys. I understand the reason, but I find that to use those keys I'm twisting my wrist - even with just positioning my hand that way as I type this I can feel an unnatural strain.

    Personally, I always remap these to DSXC, which is a more natural angle for my hand, and the keys seems to fit more comfortably under the fingers too, especially as I normally would be using forward, left, and right mostly, and not using back a lot. It generally means mapping some other keys too to fit around them as these are normally mapped with WASD in mind.

    Yeah, not really a lot to do with this story in general, but I do wonder if others do something similar...

  15. How about a version of Win10 without the crap? by iampiti · · Score: 1

    Every update of Windows 10 seems to include more and more extraneus things which really don't belong in an OS. The OS should be lean, and if you wished, you should be able to install all these extras.
    As it's now, Windows 10 includes lots of Microsoft software I have no use for that just wastes bits on my HD.
    Of course, I'm not talking about the spying/telemetry since it's pretty obvious that's one of the main features (for MS) of Win 10 and sure as hell they're not gonna remove it.