The developers over at Valorem are taking digital communication to the next level with a new three-dimensional chat application for Microsoft’s HoloLens. Named, HoloBeam, the app uses a stereoscopic camera to create 3D point cloud data which can be streamed in real-time to a user wearing a HoloLens headset. The app then renders the data as a faux video projection (like all HoloLens visuals, it’s only viewable to the person wearing the HoloLens unit) which can be perceived and even walked around about a third of the way before the image becomes distorted.
Here’s a demonstration video of HoloBeam in action.
HoloBeam is far from refined but it’s bound to be improved as it’s made commercially available. One issue that will need to be addressed is its reliance on a stereoscopic camera, something most people don’t own. The service is also limited to being viewed by the one HoloLens user and the headset would have to be passed to another user if they wished to see the person on the other end of the conversation. Can you see yourself using an app like this? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
