The developer's edition of Microsoft's holographic computer headset HoloLens is about to ship on March 30, and to get developers inspired to start getting creative, the company has showcased one of its new apps that will allow users to make movies in augmented reality alongside holograms.
Called Actiongram, the movie maker app for the HoloLens allows creators to record mixed reality capture video where they can interact with avatars and add in special effects. The app gives the user access to a library of various characters, like a dinosaur or a zombie, as well as props and tools that can be added into the story the user is looking to tell.
"In order to provide great holographic content to help inspire creators, we built a holographic studio where many different actors, characters, objects and creatures can be captured as holograms," Microsoft writes in a blog post. "Creators are able to develop their own unique holographic stories, in their world, to express their thoughts, ideas, and delight people."
The idea is that users do not need to have any previous animation, visual effects or CGI experience to be able to create the augmented reality movies.
Actiongram was built by a team of five people who were tasked with creating an app that would provide high-quality holographic experiences. It took the team about six months to complete the app.
Creators are encouraged to make humorous videos with the holograms, and then share their stories with others online.
Microsoft has since been testing the app in a closed beta program to see how easy it is for people to create holographic stories. The company has released a handful of videos that give us a preview of what types of content we can expect to be made using the app. These include videos that feature a creator telling her dog about space, complete with a hologram UFO and planets, and a mine that is blown up by a creator's cat.
While the graphics aren't exactly worthy of Hollywood, the app does allow users to make fun, short clips that could have the potential of going viral.
Microsoft previously announced Actiongram in February as part of a list of apps and games that will be included with the HoloLens dev kit. The HoloLens Development Edition will also come with the HoloStudio app for creating 3D models on a real-world scale, Skype, the mixed-reality crime game Fragments, the mixed-reality game Young Conker and RoboRaid, the game that brings aliens into users' living rooms.
The Microsoft HoloLens development kit costs $3,000, and will start shipping on March 30.
Check out some videos made using Actiongram below.
Source: Microsoft
