<\/p>\n
If you need<\/span> evidence that Apple is working on a mixed-reality headset, take a spin with the HoloKit X. Created by Botao Amber Hu, a developer who has worked at companies like DJI, Google, and Twitter and is now CEO and founder of Holo Interactive, this headset relies entirely on existing capabilities of the iPhone to create interactive hands-free augmented reality experiences. It\u2019s a powerful showcase of what\u2019s possible if Apple ever made a headset using the tech already embedded in its smartphone.<\/p>\n Any such headset to come out of Cupertino would almost certainly cost more than a thousand dollars. (This is Apple, after all.) Look at Meta\u2019s newest mixed-reality headset for reference; it starts at $1,499. Headsets in Microsoft\u2019s XR platform cost between $600 and $1,000. These high prices are why the HoloKit X exists. Hu, who has long had a special interest in future computing and new media art, says he wants to \u201cdemocratize\u201d the world of mixed reality. As such, the HoloKit X costs $129, and all you need is a recent iPhone (excluding iPhone Mini and iPhone SE models) to power it.<\/p>\n An iPhone on Your Head<\/p>\n The HoloKit X is a plasticky headset with optical lenses inside. There\u2019s no technology here (save for an NFC sensor, but more on that later). Just think of it as a viewer, not unlike old-school View-Masters. Similar to mobile virtual reality headsets like Google Cardboard, Lenovo\u2019s AR set for Star Wars games, or the now-defunct Google Daydream, you need to mount an iPhone onto the HoloKit X.\u00a0<\/p>\n Photograph: HoloKit<\/span><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n Unlike VR headsets, you\u2019re not staring at a screen. The iPhone is mounted up and away from your eyes. Instead, you\u2019re looking through the glass in a 60-degree field of view and can see the physical world as well as the people around you. The iPhone\u2019s screen, while using the rear cameras to manage these AR experiences, is mirrored in stereoscopic vision to the lenses, making it so that you can effectively see virtual 3D objects embedded in the real world.<\/p>\n Exactly what you can do<\/em> with the HoloKit X is limited right now. There are just a handful of experiences\u2014what Hu calls \u201cRealities\u201d\u2014in the HoloKit app, one of which is a multiplayer dueling game where you cast spells at an enemy. The visuals are clear, colorful, and pretty sharp, and the platform supports six degrees of freedom via Apple\u2019s ARKit framework. Because of this, you can move around virtual objects and they will stay anchored in the real-world places where you position them. And when you\u2019re playing a game, you can even duck to dodge blasts. The \u201cenemy\u201d can be another person using a HoloKit X in a shared space, a virtual character, or even a character controlled by someone with just an iPhone.<\/p>\n Since it\u2019s entirely powered by an iPhone, the HoloKit app is leveraging existing technologies. The ability to play a game with other HoloKit X users, for example, doesn\u2019t rely on cellular data or Wi-Fi, but rather the local networking technology that powers AirDrop. This is also what powers \u201cSpectator View,\u201d which allows anyone to use an iPhone and the HoloKit app to view your augmented reality experience in real time by pointing their phone at the scene. (You can record and share this to social media, or cast it via AirPlay to a TV for others to see.) Hu says Holo Interactive is also working on a Puppeteer mode that would enable someone else to direct your AR experience.<\/p>\n There are a few ways to interact with the augmented reality experience. The HoloKit app uses Apple\u2019s Vision framework technology to identify and track your hand. I didn\u2019t see a demo of this, but the idea is that you can just use your hands to interact with objects and the iPhone\u2019s cameras will recognize your hand movements. Hu says HoloKit also supports any Bluetooth device that can connect to the iPhone, like PlayStation controllers.<\/p>\n What I did<\/em> demo was the ability to use an Apple Watch\u2019s gyroscope as a motion controller, just like a Wiimote. Hu strapped an Apple Watch to my wrist (it works with Watch Series 4 and newer) with the HoloKit watch app installed and running, and gave me a wand purely so I could feel<\/em> like I was using it to shoot out spells. Lo and behold, I was able to cast spells with mere gestures or a flick of the wrist. I could even point my wand downward to load a charging bar and trigger a more powerful spell. Aiding the immersion is the use of spatial audio via any of Apple\u2019s headphones that support that feature, so you can hear a spell whizzing past your right ear. The iPhone\u2019s haptic vibration adds another layer of sensory input, but since the phone is mounted in the headset, it\u2019s only vibrating up near your forehead, so you may not immediately sense it. \u00a0<\/p>\n You can use the HoloKit X with an iPhone XS, XS Max, iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro and 11 Pro Max, iPhone 12, iPhone 12 Pro and 12 Pro Max, iPhone 13, and iPhone 13 and 13 Pro Max, iPhone 14, and iPhone 14 and 14 Pro Max. (You\u2019ll need to take off your case so it will fit.) You\u2019ll get the best experience with an iPhone that has a lidar sensor, which became a staple on the Pro models\u2014starting with the iPhone 12 series.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" If you need evidence that Apple is working on a mixed-reality headset, take a spin with the HoloKit X. Created by Botao Amber Hu, a developer who has worked at companies like DJI, Google, and Twitter and is now CEO and founder of Holo Interactive, this headset relies entirely on existing capabilities of the iPhone […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1239655,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1239653","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-celebrity-gossip"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1239653","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1239653"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1239653\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1239653"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1239653"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1239653"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}