Hello gents,
I am a developer and application specialist for hsbcad, and we managed to get a couple of development editions of the Hololens. We have been working to push our models onto the device for design review. Although the concerns here around model size and performance are valid, we've found ways of getting around most of them.
We currently only have one application in development for Hololens, and it works in conjunction with hsbShare. HsbShare allows you to push your model to the Autodesk Forge service, we then imbed metadata on top of this 3d model to foster communication with remote team members, or with field installers, or perhaps the production shop. In addition to tagging documents, photos, or videos to an entity in the model you can select a subset of the model and push it down to Hololens.
So I think the fix for performance is to be picky about what parts of the model you send to the device. For instance, if you have an entire building modeled but are wanting to review exterior appearance or site logistics you'd only push down the exterior shell, and perhaps the landscape if you have it modeled. If you want to review traffic patterns on the 1st floor you'd just select that to send to the device.
It's early days for this new device, but the fact that it recognizes room geometry and anchors virtual 3d models to real-world objects will make it an unparalleled device for design review. Built into the SDK is the ability to coordinate the model display between multiple Hololenses, so you'd be able to discuss it with several other people, and point to various objects, scale the model up and down, activate clipping planes....
Indeed, early days and an expensive V1 device, but keep your eyes on this space as I have no doubt it will be a critical, versatile, and unparalleled tool going forward.
If you're attending AU this year, stop by the booth and I'll give you a demo of our Hololens application, we will have 2 devices at our booth this year.
Cheers,
craig colomb, Seattle WA
