This is effectively part of the existing HoloToolkit, but this is the repository that will contain all Unity specific components. The HoloToolkit is a collection of scripts and components intended to accelerate development of holographic applications targeting Windows Holographic.
HoloToolkit contains the following feature areas:
To learn more about individual HoloLens feature areas, please read the Wiki section.
Wrapper scripts for Win32 and WinRT APIs in a single API call that works in the Unity editor and in a UWP application.
Scripts that leverage the HoloLens input features namely Gaze, Gesture and Voice.
Prefabs related to the input features.
Torus shaped basic cursor that follows the user's gaze around.
Torus shaped CursorOnHolograms when user is gazing at holograms and point light CursorOffHolograms when user is gazing away from holograms.
Torus shaped cursor that follows the user's gaze and HandDetectedFeedback asset to give feedback to user when their hand is detected in the ready state.
Scripts related to the input features.
- Decides when to show the cursor.
- Positions the cursor at the gazed hit location.
- Rotates the cursor to match hologram normals.
CursorFeedback class takes GameObjects to give cursor feedback to users based on different states.
CursorManager class takes Cursor GameObjects. One that is a Cursor on Holograms and another Cursor off Holograms.
- Shows the appropriate Cursor when a hologram is hit.
- Places the appropriate Cursor at the hit position.
- Matches the Cursor normal to the hit surface.
You must provide GameObjects for the CursorOnHologram and CursorOffHologram public fields.
CursorOnHologram Cursor object to display when you are gazing at a hologram.
CursorOffHologram Cursor object to display when you are not gazing at a hologram.
DistanceFromCollision Distance, in meters, to offset the cursor from a collision with a hologram in the scene. This is to prevent the cursor from being occluded.
Perform Physics.Raycast in the user's gaze direction to get the position and normals of any collisions.
MaxGazeDistance The maximum distance to Raycast. Any holograms beyond this value will not be raycasted to.
RaycastLayerMask The Unity layers to raycast against. If you have holograms that should not be raycasted against, like a cursor, do not include their layers in this mask.
Stabilize the user's gaze to account for head jitter.
StoredStabilitySamples Number of samples that you want to iterate on. A larger number will be more stable.
PositionDropOffRadius Position based distance away from gravity well.
DirectionDropOffRadius Direction based distance away from gravity well.
PositionStrength Position lerp interpolation factor.
DirectionStrength Direction lerp interpolation factor.
StabilityAverageDistanceWeight Stability average weight multiplier factor.
StabilityVarianceWeight Stability variance weight multiplier factor.
GestureManager creates a gesture recognizer and signs up for a tap gesture. When a tap gesture is detected, GestureManager uses GazeManager to find the game object. GestureManager then sends a message to that game object.
It also has an OverrideFocusedObject which lets you send gesture input to a specific object by overriding the gaze.
Show a GameObject when a gesturing hand is about to lose tracking.
You must provide GameObjects for the Cursor and HandGuidanceIndicator public fields.
Cursor The object in your scene that is being used as the cursor. The hand guidance indicator will be rendered around this cursor.
HandGuidanceIndicator GameObject to display when your hand is about to lose tracking.
HandGuidanceThreshold When to start showing the HandGuidanceIndicator. 1 is out of view, 0 is centered in view.
Keeps track of when the user's hand has been detected in the ready position.
Allows you to specify keywords and methods in the Unity Inspector, instead of registering them explicitly in code.
IMPORTANT: Please make sure to add the microphone capability in your app, in Unity under
Edit -> Project Settings -> Player -> Settings for Windows Store -> Publishing Settings -> Capabilities
or in your Visual Studio Package.appxmanifest capabilities.
KeywordsAndResponses Set the size as the number of keywords you'd like to listen for, then specify the keywords and method responses to complete the array.
RecognizerStart Set this to determine whether the keyword recognizer will start immediately or if it should wait for your code to tell it to start.
Tests related to the input features. To use the scene:
- Navigate to the Tests folder.
- Double click on the test scene you wish to explore.
- Either click "Play" in the unity editor or File -> Build Settings.
- Add Open Scenes, Platform -> Windows Store, SDK -> Universal 10, Build Type -> D3D, Check 'Unity C# Projects'.
- Click 'Build' and create an App folder. When compile is done, open the solution and deploy to device.
Shows the basic cursor following the user's gaze and hugging the test sphere in the scene.
Shows the cursor on holograms hugging the test sphere in the scene and cursor off holograms when not gazing at the sphere.
Shows the cursor hugging the test sphere in the scene and displays hand detected asset when hand is detected in ready state.
Sharing and networking components for rapid prototyping in Unity for building shared experiences.
Ensure you have the following capabilities set:
- Enable the "SpatialPerception" capability in Player Settings -> Windows Store -> Publishing Settings -> Capabilities.
- For using Sharing components, you will also need to set the InternetClientServer, PrivateNetworkClientServer, and Microphone capabilities.
Enables the HoloToolkit menu option in the Unity top tool bar.
Contains compiled architecture specific binaries for SharingClient.dll which are required by the Unity application for accessing sharing APIs. Binaries are compiled from the native HoloToolkit\Sharing.
Prefabs related to the sharing and networking features.
- Enables sharing and networking in your Unity application.
- Allows you to communicate between a Windows and non-Windows device.
SharingStage.cs allows you to be a Primary Client (typical case). Server Address is the IP address of the machine running the HoloToolkit -> Launch Sharing Service. Server Port displays the port being used for communicating.
SharingSessionTracker.cs keeps track of the players joining and leaving a shared session.
AutoJoinSession.cs creates a shared session with Session Name 'Default' which is customizable. Joins a player to that session if once already exists.
Scripts related to the sharing and networking features.
Contains scripts compiled from the native HoloToolkit\Sharing repository and using the SWIG tool to generate different language bindings.
Utility scripts for the Sharing.prefab. Also scripts for logging, launching processes, math utilities.
Tests related to the sharing features. To use the scene:
- Navigate to the Tests folder.
- Double click on the test scene you wish to explore.
- Either click "Play" in the unity editor or File -> Build Settings.
- Add Open Scenes, Platform -> Windows Store, SDK -> Universal 10, Build Type -> D3D, Check 'Unity C# Projects'.
- Click 'Build' and create an App folder. When compile is done, open the solution and deploy to device.
Sharing scene demonstrates how to use the Sharing prefabs for networking and sharing custom messages with clients. It also demonstrates how to share world anchors between clients to establish a shared space.
- Ensure to launch the sharing service using: HoloToolkit -> Launch Sharing service
- Enter the IP address displayed in the console window into the Server Address of the Sharing object.
- CustomMessages.cs shows how to communicate specific information across clients.
- ImportExportAnchorManager.cs shows how to create anchors and share them with other clients using the sharing service.
- RemoteHeadManager.cs draw cubes on remote heads of users joining the session.
Scripts that leverage SpatialMapping related features.
- Enable the "SpatialPerception" capability in Player Settings -> Windows Store -> Publishing Settings -> Capabilities.
- If using the RemoteMapping components, you will also need to set the InternetClientServer, PrivateNetworkClientServer, and Microphone capabilities.
IMPORTANT: Please make sure to add the Spatial Perception capability in your app, in Unity under
Edit -> Project Settings -> Player -> Settings for Windows Store -> Publishing Settings -> Capabilities
or in your Visual Studio Package.appxmanifest capabilities.
PlaneFinding addon that can be used to find planar surfaces (ie: walls/floors/tables/etc) in the mesh data returned by Spatial Mapping.
####SpatialMappingComponent A unified set of scripts adhering to best practices for providing physics or rendering support for Spatial Mapping. Add a SpatialMappingCollider or SpatialMappingRenderer component onto a GameObject and spatial mapping will just start working
Use this script for rendering Spatial Mapping.
Rendering Mode: (Default: Occlusion). How to render the mesh. Occlusion will cause the mesh to occlude holograms behind it. Material will apply the specified material. None will cause the meshes to not render at all.
Rendering Material: (Default: Wireframe). The material to render the Spatial Mapping mesh with. This is only relevant when Rendering Mode is set to Material. The default materials are kept in your Resources\HoloToolkit\ folder.
Freeze Mesh Updates: (Default: no). When enabled, no further updates will be processed. Use this to delay initial starting of Spatial Mapping processing or to stop updates at a certain point.
Bounding Volume: (Default: Bounding Box). The shape of the bounds to observe for new surfaces. The choices are Bounding Box with Extents or Sphere with Radius.
Extents: (Default: (10, 10, 10)). The extents of the bounding box in meters. Only applicable with Bounding Box set for Bounding Volume.
Radius: (Default: 10). The radius of the bounding sphere in meters. Only applicable with Sphere set for Bounding Volume.
Level of Detail: (Default: Medium). The amount of detail in the resulting meshes. Possible values are Low, Medium, and High. Higher levels of detail will result in lower performance.
Time Between Updates: (Default: 2.5). The frequency in seconds for when updates to Spatial Mapping surfaces will be processed.
Use this script for performing physics collisions with the Spatial Mapping mesh.
Enable Collisions: (Default: yes). Whether or not to create a collider for RigidBody physics
Physic Material: (Default: none). Custom PhysicMaterial to define physical interactions (like bounciness) with the mesh.
Physics Layer: (Default: default). The layer to apply to the meshes for Raycasting.
Freeze Mesh Updates: (Default: no). When enabled, no further updates will be processed. Use this to delay initial starting of Spatial Mapping processing or to stop updates at a certain point.
Bounding Volume: (Default: Bounding Box). The shape of the bounds to observe for new surfaces. The choices are Bounding Box with Extents or Sphere with Radius.
Extents: (Default: (10, 10, 10)). The extents of the bounding box in meters. Only applicable with Bounding Box set for Bounding Volume.
Radius: (Default: 10). The radius of the bounding sphere in meters. Only applicable with Sphere set for Bounding Volume.
Level of Detail: (Default: Low). The amount of detail in the resulting meshes. Possible values are Low, Medium, and High. Higher levels of detail will result in lower performance.
Time Between Updates: (Default: 2.5). The frequency in seconds for when updates to Spatial Mapping surfaces will be processed.
- If you want spatial mapping to work wherever the user travels, attach the components to the camera and the specified bounds will move with the user.
- If you want collisions to continue working even after walking away, you may want to leave a second SpatialMappingCollider around the play space where collisions should continue.
- If you want physics collisions and to render the Spatial Mapping mesh for an area, you should add both a SpatialMappingCollider and a SpatialMappingRenderer
Though all of the defaults are usable out of the box with no customization, you can also customize the component to your scenario. Through script, additions such as PlaneFinding.cs can also be used with these components.
These components by default implement caching of removed Spatial Mapping meshes such that removed meshes will still be present for at least 10 updates after they are actually removed. This number and the feature can be configured via script. This feature enables mesh a great distance from the user to not be removed as well as quick re-hydration of mesh only removed as a user moved away and back to a single location.
The following scripts give you the ability to load the spatial mapping mesh from a file or the network into your Unity scene for debugging in the editor.
A SpatialMappingSource that loads spatial mapping data from a file in Unity.
MeshFileName Name of file to use when saving or loading surface mesh data.
Static class that can read and write mesh data to the file specified in FileSurfaceObserver.cs.
Unity script that wraps the native PlaneFinding DLL. Used by SurfaceMeshesToPlanes.cs.
Allows sending meshes remotely from HoloLens to Unity.
Networking component that runs on the HoloLens and can send meshes to Unity.
ServerIP The IPv4 address of the machine running the Unity editor.
ConnectionPort The network port of the Unity machine that will receive spatial mapping data from the HoloLens.
SpatialMappingSource object that runs in the Unity editor and receive spatial mapping data from the HoloLens.
ServerIP The IPv4 address of the machine running the Unity editor.
ConnectionPort The network port of the Unity machine that will receive mesh data from the HoloLens.
A spatial processing component that will remove any spatial mapping vertices that fall within the specified bounding volumes.
BoundsExpansion The amount, if any, to expand each bounding volume by.
Static class that converts a Unity mesh to an array of bytes. Used by MeshSaver.cs to serialize and deserialize mesh data.
Manages interactions between the application and all spatial mapping data sources (file, observer, network).
PhysicsLayer The physics layer to use for all spatial mapping mesh data.
SurfaceMaterial The material to apply when rendering the spatial mapping mesh data.
DrawVisualMeshes Determines if spatial mapping meshes will be rendered.
CastShadows Determines if spatial mapping meshes can cast shadows.
Adds and updates spatial mapping data for all surfaces discovered by the SurfaceObserver running on the HoloLens.
TrianglesPerCubicMeter Level of detail to use for each mesh found by the SurfaceObserver.
Extents Extents of the observation volume which expand out from the camera's position.
TimeBetweenUpdates Time to wait (sec) before processing updates from the SurfaceObserver.
Generates and retrieves meshes based on spatial mapping data coming from the current source object (file, observer, network). SpatialMappingManager.cs manages switching between source types and interacting with this class.
A spatial processing component that can find and create planes based on spatial mapping meshes. Uses PlaneFinding.cs and requires the PlaneFinding plug-in.
ActivePlanes Collection of planes found within the spatial mapping data.
SurfacePlanePrefab A GameObject that will be used for generating planes. If no prefab is provided, a Unity cube primitive will be used instead.
MinArea Minimum area required for a plane to be created.
DrawPlanes Bit mask which specifies the type of planes that should be rendered (walls, floors, ceilings, etc).
DestroyPlanes Bit mask which specifies the type of planes that should be discarded.
Generates planes and classifies them by type (wall, ceiling, floor, table, unknown). Should be a component on the SurfacePlanePrefab used by SurfaceMeshesToPlanes.cs.
PlaneThickness How thick each plane should be.
UpNormalThreshold Threshold for acceptable normals. Used to determine if a plane is horizontal or vertical.
FloorBuffer Max distance from the largest floor plane before a horizontal plane will be classified as a table.
CeilingBuffer Max distance from the largest ceiling plane before a horizontal plane will be classified as a table.
WallMaterial Material to use when rendering wall plane types.
FloorMaterial Material to use when rendering ceiling plane types.
TableMaterial Material to use when rendering table plane types.
UnknownMaterial Material to use when rendering unknown plane types.
Simple script to add to a GameObject that allows users to tap and place the GameObject along the spatial mapping mesh. Requires GazeManager, GestureManager, and SpatialMappingManager in the scene.
A basic occlusion shader that can be used to occlude objects behind spatial mapping meshes. Use SpatialMappingManager.SetSurfaceMaterial() to use this material with the spatial mapping data.
A basic wire frame shader that can be used for rendering spatial mapping meshes. Use SpatialMappingManager.SetSurfaceMaterial() to use this material with the spatial mapping data.
To use this sample code, load the PlaneFinding scene and hit Play. The PlaneFinding algorithm will run in a loop. Switch to the scene view to see a visualization of the planes found. The PlaneFindingTest component exposes a couple of properties that let you manipulate the PlaneFinding API parameters in real-time and observe their impact on the algorithm.
NOTE: In the interest of simplicity, this test script calls the PlaneFinding APIs directly from the main Unity thread in Update(). In a real application, the PlaneFinding APIs MUST be called from a background thread in order to avoid stalling the rendering thread and causing a drop in frame rate.
The SpatialProcessing scene tests the two processing scripts available in HoloToolkit: SufraceMeshesToPlanes and RemoveSurfaceVertices. If you already have a .room file saved, it will automatically load the file and run in Unity. If not, you can use the RemoteMapping prefab to send/save mesh files from the HoloLens. You can also run this test directly in the HoloLens. This scene will scan your area for 15 seconds and then convert all meshes to planes. If a floor plane is found, it will remove vertices from surface meshes that fall within the bounds of any active plane.
This scene shows an example of a static play space which preserves physics around it (marked by a cube) while maintaining physics and wire frame rendering of Spatial Mapping around the camera. Additionally, you can tap to drop a cube in front of the camera with a Rigidbody component to interact with physics.
This scene is the minimum setup to use the TapToPlace script. It includes GazeManager, GestureManager, and SpatialMapping prefab. BasicCursor prefab is included for ease of use.
There is a cube in the scene with TapToPlace added on it. Gaze at and tap the cube. It will move along the spatial mapping mesh based on user's gaze.
When tap is performed again, it will place the cube.
Scripts related to the audio features.
IMPORTANT: Please make sure to set the MS HRTF Spatializer in your audio settings, in Unity under
Edit -> Project Settings -> Audio -> Spatializer. You can confirm this setting by adding an AudioSource component to an object and making sure the "Spatialize" checkbox is present.
- Allows sound designers to set up audio events with playback behaviors.
- Plays audio events via singleton API.
PlayEvent(string eventName) Plays the event matching eventName on an AudioSource component placed on the GameObject containing the UAudioManager component.
PlayEvent(string eventName, AudioSource primarySource) Plays the event matching eventName on the AudioSource primarySource. This should be used if you already have an AudioSource component on which to play the sound, as opposed to the previous function, which will look for one or add it if there is no AudioSource present.
Global Event Instance Limit The total number of audio events that can be active at once at any given time.
Global Instance Behavior Whether the oldest or newest event should be cancelled to honor the instance limit.
Name The name of the audio event to be called in script.
Positioning Whether a sound should be played in stereo, 3D or using Spatial Sound.
Room Size The room model used for Spatial Sound.
Min Gain The lowest attenuation value caused by distance.
Max Gain The maximum level boost from the sound being closer than Unity Gain Distance.
Unity Gain Distance The distance, in meters, at which the sound is neither boosted nor attenuated.
Useful common concepts that you can leverage in your application.
Common useful prefabs not particularly related to a particular HoloLens feature.
Unity camera that has been customized for Holographic development.
- Camera.Transform set to 0,0,0
- 'Clear Flags' changed to 'Solid Color'
- Color set to R:0, G:0, B:0, A:0 as black renders transparent in HoloLens.
- Set the recommended near clipping plane.
Rotates a hologram so it is always facing towards the camera.
Show a GameObject around the cursor that points in the direction of the GameObject which this script is attached to.
You must provide GameObjects for the Cursor and DirectionIndicatorObject public fields.
Cursor The object in your scene that is being used as the cursor. The direction indicator will be rendered around this cursor.
DirectionIndicatorObject The object that will point in the direction toward the object which this script is attached to. This object can be a 2D or 3D object.
DirectionIndicatorColor The color you want the DirectionIndicatorObject to be. The material on the DirectionIndicatorObject will need to support the color or TintColor property for this field to work. Otherwise the DirectionIndicatorObject will continue to render as its exported color.
TitleSafeFactor The percentage the GameObject can be within the view frustum for the DirectionIndicatorObject to start appearing. A value of 0 will display the DirectionIndicatorObject when the GameObject leaves the view. 0.1 will display when the GameObject is 10% away from the edge of the view. -0.1 will display when the GameObject is 10% out of view.
Causes a hologram to maintain a fixed angular size, which is to say it occupies the same pixels in the view regardless of its distance from the camera.
A MonoBehaviour that interpolates a transform's position, rotation or scale.
A script to add to the main camera object so that when running in Play mode in Unity, the user can control the camera using keyboard and mouse.
A Tagalong that stays at a fixed distance from the camera and always seeks to have a part of itself in the view frustum of the camera.
A base class to make a MonoBehaviour follow the singleton design pattern.
A Tagalong that extends SimpleTagalong that allows for specifying the minimum and target percentage of the object to keep in the view frustum of the camera and that keeps the Tagalong object in front of other holograms including the Spatial Mapping Mesh.
Provides dynamic Text to Speech. Speech is generated using the UWP SpeechSynthesizer and then played through a Unity AudioSource. Both plain text and SSML are supported.
Code shared between LambertianConfigurable.shader and LambertianConfigurableTransparent.shader.
Feature configurable per-pixel lambertian shader. Use when higher quality lighting is desired, but specular highlights are not needed.
Feature configurable per-pixel lambertian transparent shader. Use when higher quality lighting and transparency are desired, but specular highlights are not needed.
Higher performance drop-in replacement for the Unity Standard Shader. Use when very high quality lighting (including reflections) is needed.
Code shared between UnlitConfigurable.shader and UnlitConfigurableTransparent.shader.
Feature configurable unlit shader. Use when no lighting is desired.
Feature configurable unlit transparent shader. Use when transparency and no lighting are desired.
Code shared between VertexLitConfigurable.shader and VertexLitConfigurableTransparent.shader.
Feature configurable vertex lit shader. Use when a higher performance but lower precision lighting trade-off is acceptable.
Feature configurable vertex lit transparent shader. Use when a higher performance but lower precision lighting trade-off is acceptable, and transparency is needed.
This scene shows how to use ManualCameraControl.cs. The script is on the main camera of the scene. When preview mode in Unity is activated, the user can move around the scene using WASD and look around using ctrl + mouse.
This scene demonstrates how to use TextToSpeechManager.cs. The script is placed on 3 cubes in the scene. Whenever a cube is activated with an air tap, a text to speech voice will emanate from the cube. The user can also ask "What time is it?" to hear the current time from a voice that stays with the user as they move.