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Building and deploying MRTK To run an app on device as a standalone app (for HoloLens, Android, iOS, etc.), the build and deploy step needs to be executed in the unity project. Building and deploying an app that uses MRTK is just like building and deploying any other Unity app. MRTK provides various types of HoloLens 2's shell (OS) style buttons. It provides sophisticated visual feedbacks such as proximity light, compressing box, and a ripple effect on the button surface that improve the user's confidence. Simply drag and drop one of the HoloLens 2 style pressable button prefab into your scene. The prefab uses. Building a Unity Project with Speech Recognition using MRTK for a HoloLens 2 August 4, 2020 / in Mixed Reality / by Robert Bogue In this post, I'm going to do a step-by-step walkthrough for building a project that will do speech recognition for a HoloLens 2. I have recently started to develop for Microsoft Hololens and there is a really useful toolkit called Holotoolkit. In this post I will show how to integrate this toolkit to Unity and how to use the input module. I assume that you have learned the basics of how to deploy an app for Hololens at Holograms 100 course. We created 2 empty unity projects (Unity 2017.4.23f1 and Unity 2018.3.9f1). In both projects we created a cube and a sphere that appear in front of the Hololens (fixed position). Both projects have the 'Enable Depth Buffer Sharing' checked and some other basic settings to run in Hololens.
Mixed Reality is a big place, a nexus where real and virtual worlds collide with a bang. The possibilities are endless, and it starts with you. Choose your engine, download your tools, and dust off your keyboard. Welcome to the Mixed Reality ecosystem - it's time to create.
Development options
Unity - Unity is one of the leading real-time development platforms on the market, with underlying runtime code written in C++ and all development scripting is done in C#. Whether you're looking to build games, movies and animation cinematics, or even render architectural or engineering concepts in a virtual world, Unity has the infrastructure to support you.
Unreal - Unreal Engine 4 is a powerful, open source creation engine with full support for mixed reality in both C++ and Blueprints. As of Unreal Engine 4.25, HoloLens support is full-featured and production-ready. With capabilities such as the flexible Blueprints Visual Scripting system, designers can virtually use the full range of concepts and tools generally only available to programmers. Creators across industries can leverage the freedom and control to deliver cutting-edge content, interactive experiences, and immersive virtual worlds.
Native (OpenXR) - OpenXR is an open royalty-free API standard from Khronos that provides engines native access to a wide range of devices from vendors across the mixed reality spectrum. You can develop using OpenXR on a HoloLens 2 or Windows Mixed Reality immersive headset on the desktop. If you don't have access to a headset, emulators for HoloLens 2 and Windows Mixed Reality headsets are available.
What technology path are you interested in?
There are several development paths you can take through our documentation. The first step is finding the technology that's right for you. If you already have one in mind, go ahead and jump right to its respective tab below. If you're on the fence or just starting out, take a look through each one and understand what they offer, the available platforms and tools, and start creating!
Important
Take a look at our porting guides overview if you have existing projects that you want to bring over to HoloLens 2 or immmersive VR headsets like the Reverb G2. We have guides for projects that are using HTK, MRTK v1, SteamVR or were developed for immersive headsets such as the Oculus Rift or HTC Vive.
Build a cross-platform, full-featured mixed reality app with Unity. See the Unity development overview to get started with Unity development for HoloLens or Windows Mixed Reality immersive headsets.
Available hardware platforms
You have several hardware and emulator options when building Mixed Reality apps with Unity. While our developer documentation focuses on HoloLens devices, you'll find device support sections with details on immersive headset deployment when applicable.
Augmented reality devices
Immersive VR headsets
- HP Reverb and Reverb G2
- Samsung Odyssey and Odyssey+
- HP Windows Mixed Reality headset
- Lenovo Explorer
- Acer AH101
- Dell Visor
- Asus HC102
- Acer OJO 500
Available tools and SDKs
| Tool/SDK | Description |
|---|---|
| Mixed Reality Toolkit for Unity | The Mixed Reality Toolkit for Unity is an open source cross-platform development kit built to accelerate development of applications targeting Microsoft HoloLens, Windows Mixed Reality immersive (VR) headsets and OpenVR platform. |
Cloud services
There are several cloud services that can be integrated into Mixed Reality projects built in Unity, specifically Azure Remote Rendering and Azure Spatial Anchors. These services can add shared holographic content and real-time 3D rendering to your applications, making them more compelling and immersive for your users.
All of these services are covered over the course of the Unity development journey, which is the strongly recommended path for learning Mixed Reality with Unity. You're already on this path, so just keep reading and follow the big blue button at the bottom of the article. However, if you're at a more advanced development stage and already know you want to jump in, check out our cloud services overview or go directly to the services resources.
Dynamics 365 Guides
You can use Microsoft Dynamics 365 Guides to visually tether holographic instructions to your apps virtual environment, giving your users important information when and where it's needed. This feature is also covered in the Unity development journey, but if you want to jump ahead you can see what's on offer by selecting the Dynamics 365 tab here.
Examples
We have several open source sample apps for you to download and play around with to get a feel for a Mixed Reality end product in Unity. There are also MRTK example scenes available for you to test out specific features:
Hand interaction examples scene (MRTK) for Unity -The HandInteractionExamples.unity example scene contains various types of interactions and UI controls that highlight articulated hand input.
Eye tracking examples (MRTK) for Unity -This page covers how to get quickly started with using eye tracking in MRTK by building on our provided MRTK eye tracking examples.
Note
Both of the MRTK example scenes require MRTK Foundation and Example Unity packages to be installed.
Build a cross-platform, full-featured mixed reality app with Unreal. See the Unreal development overview to get started with Unreal development for HoloLens.
Available hardware platforms
You have several hardware, emulator, and streaming options when building Mixed Reality apps with Unreal Engine. While our developer documentation focuses on HoloLens devices, you can package your Unreal projects as x64 desktop apps and run them on immersive headsets just fine.
Augmented reality devices
Immersive VR headsets
- HP Reverb and Reverb G2
- Samsung Odyssey and Odyssey+
- HP Windows Mixed Reality headset
- Lenovo Explorer
- Acer AH101
- Dell Visor
- Asus HC102
- Acer OJO 500
Available tools and SDKs
| Tool/SDK | Description |
|---|---|
| Mixed Reality Toolkit for Unreal | The Mixed Reality Toolkit for Unreal (MRTK-Unreal) is a set of components, in the form of plugins, samples and documentation, designed to accelerate development of mixed reality applications using the Unreal Engine. |
Cloud services
When building Mixed Reality apps in Unreal, you have access to a powerful cloud service called Azure Spatial Anchors, which you can use to add, persist, and share holographic content across different devices.
Azure Spatial Anchors is covered over the course of the Unreal development journey, which is the strongly recommended path for learning Mixed Reality with Unreal. You're already on this path, so just keep reading and follow the big blue button at the bottom of the article. However, if you're at a more advanced development stage and already know you want to jump in, check out our cloud services overview or go directly to the services resources.
Dynamics 365 Guides
You can use Microsoft Dynamics 365 Guides to visually tether holographic instructions to your apps virtual environment, giving your users important information when and where it's needed. This feature is also covered in the Unreal development journey, but if you want to jump ahead you can see what's on offer by selecting the Dynamics 365 tab here.
Examples
- Kippy's Escape - Kippy's Escape is an open-source HoloLens 2 sample app built with Unreal Engine 4 and Mixed Reality UX Tools for Unreal. The game showcases the unique features of the HoloLens 2 hardware and the development power of the Mixed Reality UX Tools.
The WebXR Device API is an open specification that allows you to experience Mixed Reality apps in your browser on any platform. See the JavaScript development overview to get started building Mixed Reality apps for any platform.
Create mixed reality apps with a direct line to the Windows Mixed Reality APIs. See the Native development overview to get started with native app development using OpenXR or legacy WinRT for HoloLens 2 or Windows Mixed Reality immersive headsets. The Windows Mixed Reality API supports applications written in C++ and C#, allowing you to build your own framework or middleware in either language.
Available hardware platforms
You have several hardware, emulator, and streaming options when building Mixed Reality apps with OpenXR development.
Augmented reality devices
Immersive VR headsets
- HP Reverb and Reverb G2
- Samsung Odyssey and Odyssey+
- HP Windows Mixed Reality headset
- Lenovo Explorer
- Acer AH101
- Dell Visor
- Asus HC102
- Acer OJO 500
Available tools and SDKs
| Tool/SDK | Description |
|---|---|
| OpenXR Developer Tools | Provides a demo scene that exercises various features of OpenXR, along with a System Status page that provides key information about the active runtime and the current headset. |
| OpenXR Spec | Describes what OpenXR is, what capabilities and features it offers, and how to implement it into your own projects. |
| OpenXR Loader | Discovers the active OpenXR runtime on the device and provides access to the core functions and extension functions that it implements. |
Hololens Unity Toolkit Software
Examples
Feel free to play around with the sample app to get a feel for what's possible with Native development and Mixed Reality.
- BasicXrApp - Demonstrates a simple OpenXR sample with two Visual Studio project files, one for both a Win32 desktop app and one for a UWP HoloLens 2 app.
You can also watch a 60-minute walkthrough of BasicXrApp that tours all key components of the OpenXR API in Visual Studio:
What's next?
Now that you have a technology path in mind, let's equip you with the tools you need to start your journey.
There is a lot of confusion among consumers about the term 'mixed reality' nowadays, and most people have no idea what it even is. In contrast, virtual reality is well-known to most of the inhabitants of the modern world, and augmented reality has also gained more attention and prevalence in recent years. Unfortunately, the same does not hold true for mixed reality, a burgeoning market that has not quite caught on with mainstream users, but is making great headway with enterprises.
When it comes to mixed reality, one company is king – Microsoft. Not only have they developed the best-selling mixed reality products (Hololens) available today, but they have also created a first-rate mixed reality toolkit for creating mixed reality software on the Unity platform. This toolkit, often shortened to MRTK is the focus of our article because it can provide such a big boost in mixed reality development, and we will explain why.
Looking for MR developers?
Understanding the Basics
If you are unfamiliar with the world of mixed reality development, there is a good chance that some of the words in our introduction went over your head. If this is the case or not, we want to provide some key details about all things connected to MRTK.
Mixed reality – a merging of the digital world and our reality. With mixed reality, digital elements (like simulations of objects and characters) are added to the field of view of the user, though they still see most of their real-world surroundings. The images are presented through a special headset, and the user is typically able to interact with the digital elements.
Hololens – a mixed reality product developed by Microsoft. Usually described as smartglasses or a head-mounted display, this is a wearable gadget running on Windows 10 and featuring a variety of compatible applications. The first version of Hololens was released in 2016, while the second version (Hololens v2) was released in 2019.
Toolkit – an assortment of instruments used for developing other applications. Usually, these instruments are just programs used for building other programs, but MRTK is just a set of packages to be installed on the Unity platform. Other popular toolkits in the sphere of extended reality include VRTK and HoloToolkit.
Unity – a leading game engine used for the development of thousands of modern applications. While most of the applications are mobile games, Unity software can be adapted for many uses, including the development of VR/AR/MR software. In this market, Unity is an incredibly popular choice, with the closest rival being Unreal Engine.
MR Toolkit Requirements
One important thing that people need to understand about MRTK is that this is not a complete program that you can just download, launch, and use to start developing an app. Before work on the mixed reality application using MRTK can begin, certain requirements should be fulfilled:
1. Unity
MRTK is only compatible with Unity, so building an application with these utilities will be impossible without the right Unity software. At the moment, the MRTK website lists the following Unity versions as being compatible with the service – 2018.4.x, 2019.1.x or 2019.2.x . It should also be noted that not everyone who wants to make a Microsoft MR app is familiar with Unity and how to use it, so unity development services in this field have become popular.
2. Visual Studio
The creator of MRTK (Microsoft) recommends the latest version of Visual Studio as a vital instrument for MR application building. Visual Studio is a proprietary program from Microsoft, which also happens to be one of the most popular IDEs (integrated development environments) available for free today. This is where developers create, edit, and troubleshoot code for the software that they're working on. Visual Studio is also the application of choice for Unity developers, as many of its features have built-in VS integration, while other IDEs require potentially unreliable plugins to connect to Unity.
3. Windows SDK
Windows SDK is a set of tools used for building applications that run on Windows. Since the main gadget that MRTK developers target is Hololens, which runs on Windows, this SDK is a must-have for anyone who falls into this category. Like Unity, this SDK is most compatible with Visual Studio. According to the Mixed Reality Toolkit documentation, the version of Windows SDK should be 18362 or newer.
How to Use the Mixed Reality Toolkit
Once you have met the pre-requisites above, there will only be a few steps separating you from the development of high-quality mixed reality applications in Unity.
1. Downloading necessary assets
Hololens Unity Setup
Microsoft has uploaded the main Unity dev kit assets of MRTK in a Github repository, and the files are accessible to everyone. There are 5 key packages featured on the page ('Foundation', 'Extensions', 'Tools', 'Examples', and 'Providers'), though only 'Foundation' (Microsoft.MixedRealityToolkit.Unity.Foundation.unitypackage) is a download essential for MRTK to work properly. The other assets offer helpful examples, supplemental features and tools, as well as functional support for OpenVR.
2. Installing the packages
Once you have downloaded necessary assets, you can open Unity and start a new 3D project. This is the point when you import the assets in question.
This is done in the 'Asset -> Import Package -> Custom Package' part of the Unity Windows interface.
Depending on how many packages you import (1 or more), the installation may take longer and require more steps.
3. Final configurations
After the import process, there are some additional steps you will need to take to prepare for development. Firstly, you will see a prompt regarding the 'Foundation' package asking whether the default package settings should be applied. Approving the default settings is recommended for first-time developers. Finally, you will need to switch to the right platform for your project in the 'File > Build Settings' screen of Unity. If you are building a Unity Hololens application, then the correct platform should be 'Universal Windows Platform'.
4. Start developing
Available hardware platforms
You have several hardware and emulator options when building Mixed Reality apps with Unity. While our developer documentation focuses on HoloLens devices, you'll find device support sections with details on immersive headset deployment when applicable.
Augmented reality devices
Immersive VR headsets
- HP Reverb and Reverb G2
- Samsung Odyssey and Odyssey+
- HP Windows Mixed Reality headset
- Lenovo Explorer
- Acer AH101
- Dell Visor
- Asus HC102
- Acer OJO 500
Available tools and SDKs
| Tool/SDK | Description |
|---|---|
| Mixed Reality Toolkit for Unity | The Mixed Reality Toolkit for Unity is an open source cross-platform development kit built to accelerate development of applications targeting Microsoft HoloLens, Windows Mixed Reality immersive (VR) headsets and OpenVR platform. |
Cloud services
There are several cloud services that can be integrated into Mixed Reality projects built in Unity, specifically Azure Remote Rendering and Azure Spatial Anchors. These services can add shared holographic content and real-time 3D rendering to your applications, making them more compelling and immersive for your users.
All of these services are covered over the course of the Unity development journey, which is the strongly recommended path for learning Mixed Reality with Unity. You're already on this path, so just keep reading and follow the big blue button at the bottom of the article. However, if you're at a more advanced development stage and already know you want to jump in, check out our cloud services overview or go directly to the services resources.
Dynamics 365 Guides
You can use Microsoft Dynamics 365 Guides to visually tether holographic instructions to your apps virtual environment, giving your users important information when and where it's needed. This feature is also covered in the Unity development journey, but if you want to jump ahead you can see what's on offer by selecting the Dynamics 365 tab here.
Examples
We have several open source sample apps for you to download and play around with to get a feel for a Mixed Reality end product in Unity. There are also MRTK example scenes available for you to test out specific features:
Hand interaction examples scene (MRTK) for Unity -The HandInteractionExamples.unity example scene contains various types of interactions and UI controls that highlight articulated hand input.
Eye tracking examples (MRTK) for Unity -This page covers how to get quickly started with using eye tracking in MRTK by building on our provided MRTK eye tracking examples.
Note
Both of the MRTK example scenes require MRTK Foundation and Example Unity packages to be installed.
Build a cross-platform, full-featured mixed reality app with Unreal. See the Unreal development overview to get started with Unreal development for HoloLens.
Available hardware platforms
You have several hardware, emulator, and streaming options when building Mixed Reality apps with Unreal Engine. While our developer documentation focuses on HoloLens devices, you can package your Unreal projects as x64 desktop apps and run them on immersive headsets just fine.
Augmented reality devices
Immersive VR headsets
- HP Reverb and Reverb G2
- Samsung Odyssey and Odyssey+
- HP Windows Mixed Reality headset
- Lenovo Explorer
- Acer AH101
- Dell Visor
- Asus HC102
- Acer OJO 500
Available tools and SDKs
| Tool/SDK | Description |
|---|---|
| Mixed Reality Toolkit for Unreal | The Mixed Reality Toolkit for Unreal (MRTK-Unreal) is a set of components, in the form of plugins, samples and documentation, designed to accelerate development of mixed reality applications using the Unreal Engine. |
Cloud services
When building Mixed Reality apps in Unreal, you have access to a powerful cloud service called Azure Spatial Anchors, which you can use to add, persist, and share holographic content across different devices.
Azure Spatial Anchors is covered over the course of the Unreal development journey, which is the strongly recommended path for learning Mixed Reality with Unreal. You're already on this path, so just keep reading and follow the big blue button at the bottom of the article. However, if you're at a more advanced development stage and already know you want to jump in, check out our cloud services overview or go directly to the services resources.
Dynamics 365 Guides
You can use Microsoft Dynamics 365 Guides to visually tether holographic instructions to your apps virtual environment, giving your users important information when and where it's needed. This feature is also covered in the Unreal development journey, but if you want to jump ahead you can see what's on offer by selecting the Dynamics 365 tab here.
Examples
- Kippy's Escape - Kippy's Escape is an open-source HoloLens 2 sample app built with Unreal Engine 4 and Mixed Reality UX Tools for Unreal. The game showcases the unique features of the HoloLens 2 hardware and the development power of the Mixed Reality UX Tools.
The WebXR Device API is an open specification that allows you to experience Mixed Reality apps in your browser on any platform. See the JavaScript development overview to get started building Mixed Reality apps for any platform.
Create mixed reality apps with a direct line to the Windows Mixed Reality APIs. See the Native development overview to get started with native app development using OpenXR or legacy WinRT for HoloLens 2 or Windows Mixed Reality immersive headsets. The Windows Mixed Reality API supports applications written in C++ and C#, allowing you to build your own framework or middleware in either language.
Available hardware platforms
You have several hardware, emulator, and streaming options when building Mixed Reality apps with OpenXR development.
Augmented reality devices
Immersive VR headsets
- HP Reverb and Reverb G2
- Samsung Odyssey and Odyssey+
- HP Windows Mixed Reality headset
- Lenovo Explorer
- Acer AH101
- Dell Visor
- Asus HC102
- Acer OJO 500
Available tools and SDKs
| Tool/SDK | Description |
|---|---|
| OpenXR Developer Tools | Provides a demo scene that exercises various features of OpenXR, along with a System Status page that provides key information about the active runtime and the current headset. |
| OpenXR Spec | Describes what OpenXR is, what capabilities and features it offers, and how to implement it into your own projects. |
| OpenXR Loader | Discovers the active OpenXR runtime on the device and provides access to the core functions and extension functions that it implements. |
Hololens Unity Toolkit Software
Examples
Feel free to play around with the sample app to get a feel for what's possible with Native development and Mixed Reality.
- BasicXrApp - Demonstrates a simple OpenXR sample with two Visual Studio project files, one for both a Win32 desktop app and one for a UWP HoloLens 2 app.
You can also watch a 60-minute walkthrough of BasicXrApp that tours all key components of the OpenXR API in Visual Studio:
What's next?
Now that you have a technology path in mind, let's equip you with the tools you need to start your journey.
There is a lot of confusion among consumers about the term 'mixed reality' nowadays, and most people have no idea what it even is. In contrast, virtual reality is well-known to most of the inhabitants of the modern world, and augmented reality has also gained more attention and prevalence in recent years. Unfortunately, the same does not hold true for mixed reality, a burgeoning market that has not quite caught on with mainstream users, but is making great headway with enterprises.
When it comes to mixed reality, one company is king – Microsoft. Not only have they developed the best-selling mixed reality products (Hololens) available today, but they have also created a first-rate mixed reality toolkit for creating mixed reality software on the Unity platform. This toolkit, often shortened to MRTK is the focus of our article because it can provide such a big boost in mixed reality development, and we will explain why.
Looking for MR developers?
Understanding the Basics
If you are unfamiliar with the world of mixed reality development, there is a good chance that some of the words in our introduction went over your head. If this is the case or not, we want to provide some key details about all things connected to MRTK.
Mixed reality – a merging of the digital world and our reality. With mixed reality, digital elements (like simulations of objects and characters) are added to the field of view of the user, though they still see most of their real-world surroundings. The images are presented through a special headset, and the user is typically able to interact with the digital elements.
Hololens – a mixed reality product developed by Microsoft. Usually described as smartglasses or a head-mounted display, this is a wearable gadget running on Windows 10 and featuring a variety of compatible applications. The first version of Hololens was released in 2016, while the second version (Hololens v2) was released in 2019.
Toolkit – an assortment of instruments used for developing other applications. Usually, these instruments are just programs used for building other programs, but MRTK is just a set of packages to be installed on the Unity platform. Other popular toolkits in the sphere of extended reality include VRTK and HoloToolkit.
Unity – a leading game engine used for the development of thousands of modern applications. While most of the applications are mobile games, Unity software can be adapted for many uses, including the development of VR/AR/MR software. In this market, Unity is an incredibly popular choice, with the closest rival being Unreal Engine.
MR Toolkit Requirements
One important thing that people need to understand about MRTK is that this is not a complete program that you can just download, launch, and use to start developing an app. Before work on the mixed reality application using MRTK can begin, certain requirements should be fulfilled:
1. Unity
MRTK is only compatible with Unity, so building an application with these utilities will be impossible without the right Unity software. At the moment, the MRTK website lists the following Unity versions as being compatible with the service – 2018.4.x, 2019.1.x or 2019.2.x . It should also be noted that not everyone who wants to make a Microsoft MR app is familiar with Unity and how to use it, so unity development services in this field have become popular.
2. Visual Studio
The creator of MRTK (Microsoft) recommends the latest version of Visual Studio as a vital instrument for MR application building. Visual Studio is a proprietary program from Microsoft, which also happens to be one of the most popular IDEs (integrated development environments) available for free today. This is where developers create, edit, and troubleshoot code for the software that they're working on. Visual Studio is also the application of choice for Unity developers, as many of its features have built-in VS integration, while other IDEs require potentially unreliable plugins to connect to Unity.
3. Windows SDK
Windows SDK is a set of tools used for building applications that run on Windows. Since the main gadget that MRTK developers target is Hololens, which runs on Windows, this SDK is a must-have for anyone who falls into this category. Like Unity, this SDK is most compatible with Visual Studio. According to the Mixed Reality Toolkit documentation, the version of Windows SDK should be 18362 or newer.
How to Use the Mixed Reality Toolkit
Once you have met the pre-requisites above, there will only be a few steps separating you from the development of high-quality mixed reality applications in Unity.
1. Downloading necessary assets
Hololens Unity Setup
Microsoft has uploaded the main Unity dev kit assets of MRTK in a Github repository, and the files are accessible to everyone. There are 5 key packages featured on the page ('Foundation', 'Extensions', 'Tools', 'Examples', and 'Providers'), though only 'Foundation' (Microsoft.MixedRealityToolkit.Unity.Foundation.unitypackage) is a download essential for MRTK to work properly. The other assets offer helpful examples, supplemental features and tools, as well as functional support for OpenVR.
2. Installing the packages
Once you have downloaded necessary assets, you can open Unity and start a new 3D project. This is the point when you import the assets in question.
This is done in the 'Asset -> Import Package -> Custom Package' part of the Unity Windows interface.
Depending on how many packages you import (1 or more), the installation may take longer and require more steps.
3. Final configurations
After the import process, there are some additional steps you will need to take to prepare for development. Firstly, you will see a prompt regarding the 'Foundation' package asking whether the default package settings should be applied. Approving the default settings is recommended for first-time developers. Finally, you will need to switch to the right platform for your project in the 'File > Build Settings' screen of Unity. If you are building a Unity Hololens application, then the correct platform should be 'Universal Windows Platform'.
4. Start developing
Once the steps above have been completed, a new 'Mixed Reality Toolkit' menu should appear in the Unity menu toolbar. In this menu, you can select 'Add to Scene and Configure' to start building your first mixed reality scene. Navigating through the process of mixed reality development can be very difficult for beginners, something akin to wandering through an endless labyrinth. Still, those lacking knowledge and experience in this field may find a ray of hope in the manuals provided by Microsoft.
It should also be mentioned that MRTK can be used for the development of applications with OpenVR, an API created by Valve Corporation for building VR apps accessible on Steam and Valve VR devices. Additionally, it is compatible with Microsoft's native WMR (Windows Mixed Reality) system. Nevertheless, Hololens 1&2 remain the most common products that MRTK apps are built for.
Hololens Unity Toolkit App
Reviewing the Mixed Reality Toolkit
As the only major mixed reality toolkit available for Unity, MRTK both thrives from the flexibility that its creators were afforded, yet in some ways suffers from the lack of alternatives and factors pushing to innovate and improve. We will examine some of the basic advantages and disadvantages.
Pros of MR Toolkit:
- Accurate Spatial Awareness system with support for spatial meshes, planes, and points
- Takes advantage of Unity's superb shaders
- Cool built-in Teleportation and Scene Transition features
- Experimental features developed by the community can be easily found and added to projects
- Support for OpenVR and WMR
Cons of MR Toolkit:
- Lack of support for platforms beyond Unity, OpenVR, and WMR
- Shortage of documentation for experimental features
- Slow rollout of major updates
- Bug fixes are infrequent
Mixed Reality Development Services
Despite some minor flaws and potential areas of improvement, MRTK remains the top choice for MR Unity developers, simply because it does what it is intended to and takes full advantage of the capabilities offered by Unity. Thus, MRTK-focused development is growing all around the world, and Hololens Unity development services are popping up for those not ready to take on the burden of development (and possibly learning) themselves.
Program-Ace is one of the many companies offering MR software development services, distinguished by a long history of working in this field, and the extensive experience of our specialists. We are certainly familiar with Hololens products and fully capable of developing solutions for them, whether it is an MRTK + Unity solution or something built on another platform (like Unreal Engine). You can make sure that we are the right fit for your project by looking at our past mixed reality works, as well as the new platform that we are working on. If any questions come up, you are welcome to contact us at any time.
