'It's magical': Microsoft unveils new platform for shared holographic experiences

REDMOND, Wash. (KOMO) — With its latest product reveal, tech giant Microsoft is making the work of science fiction a reality.

On Tuesday, the Redmond-based company unveiled a new mixed reality platform called Microsoft Mesh, which allows individuals at different locations to gather and share holographic experiences.

Technical fellow Alex Kipman presented the product in a keynote speech on the Ignite virtual stage where he appeared as a “holoportation” of himself and actually narrated the presentation’s opening in real time despite being mere rays of light that only looked like his real body.

“This has been the dream for mixed reality, the idea from the very beginning,” said Kipman. “You can actually feel like you’re in the same place with someone sharing content or you can teleport from different mixed reality devices and be present with people even when you’re not physically together.”

Kipman was joined remotely by filmmaker and explorer James Cameron as well as Cirque du Soleil co-founder Guy Laliberté to showcase the new platform and how it’s reaching a new level of connectedness.

With the help of devices like Microsoft HoloLens, VR Headsets, smartphones and tablets, individuals in multiple locations will be able to meet in the same virtual space and interact with the same objects.

Microsoft Mesh-enable applications will also allow professionals like designers and engineers to work with 3D models in a virtual shared space no matter where they are, collaborating on anything from a car to a new stadium.

Applications paired with the platform could also allow medical students to learn on holographic models, being able to operate on virtual patients before taking their knowledge to the real world.

“This is why we’ve been so passionate about mixed reality as the next big medium for collaborative computing,” Kipman said. “It’s magical when two people see the same hologram.”

In the beginning, users will be able to portray and express themselves using avatars in shared virtual experiences, but over time the company says that people will be able to use holoportation to project themselves as their most photorealistic selves.

In the coming months, Microsoft says that its Mesh platform will give developers an entire suite of tools that are powered by AI for avatar creation, session management, spatial rendering, synchronization among users and holoportation.

The goal for Microsoft Mesh, according to Kipman, is to see what kind of solutions that were once deemed impossible are now possible using the new platform.