Earlier this year we announced Microsoft Mesh and enabled Microsoft Mesh App for HoloLens (Preview) to showcase how users can connect, share, and collaborate immersively even when not physically present. We have been adding new features to this app since launch, and today we are excited to announce an improved UI and numerous new features within Microsoft Mesh App that have been months (and years) in the making!
To try the app, search for "Microsoft Mesh App (Preview)" in the Microsoft Store of your HL2 device.
What’s New in this Version:
- Redesigned UI: The app's updated look and feel creates a cohesive, intuitive, and enjoyable experience based on several years of iterative testing and learning. This includes new menus, 3D assets, icons, animations, magic windows, and much more.
Updated UI for Microsoft Mesh App
- Co-location: This highly anticipated feature allows users in the same physical location to be in a collaborative session with each other (without needing an avatar) alongside remote avatar participants. Check it out with your coworkers as you return to the office.
- New Brushes: Take your annotations to the next level with 40+ unique brushes (and brush sounds!). These include a wide variety of styles and effects including animations, particles, extrusions, solid patterns, and natural shapes. Use a larger brush size to see even more detail.
Updated brushes
- Audio Feedback: The UI audio is now more consistent, delightful, and responsive. Experience audio feedback for user interactions, such as brushstrokes and joining/leaving a space.
- Eye Gaze Interaction (Experimental Feature): This experimental interaction allows you to use your eyes to help select holographic content and menu items. Rather than reaching out to select something with direct interaction or hand rays, you can look at the item you want to interact with, and then use the pinch gesture to select and manipulate it. Enable this experimental feature in Settings > Experimental > Eye Gaze Interaction
Eye gaze selection
- Sticky Notes (Experimental Feature): Tap into your productive side with voice-enabled and keyboard-enabled sticky notes, which are located in the stickers sub-menu of the Tools tab. Enable this experimental feature in Settings > Experimental > Sticky Notes.
Customers are using the Mesh App for scenarios such as industrial design reviews, floor planning, layouts of large spaces, and brainstorming sessions. We have received great feedback from this early preview. Some new features such as co-location are directly addressing the feedback. We are excited to see how you leverage these new features. Let us know in the comments below how you are using the Mesh App and what you would like to see in future releases.
In addition to sharing the new features we are excited about, we asked the Creative Director of our Mixed Reality Design Language, Ramiro Torres, to write a companion blog post about the design language being used for the Microsoft Mesh App, and how it has evolved with our understanding of how to build mixed reality applications. Please check it out here.
