Microsoft space map

By clicking sign up, I agree that I would like information, tips, and offers about Microsoft Store and other Microsoft products and services. Privacy Statement. SkyMap Free. See System Requirements. Available on PC. Description The popular Windows Phone SkyMap application, downloaded by more than one million users, now comes to Windows 8! People also like. International Space Station Free. The UniversApp Free. Mars Rover: Curiosity Free.

Earthquake Scan Free. Astronomy free Free. Tour The Universe Free. The Messier Catalog Free. Satellite Explorer Free. To build an ideal map, try traversing an area two to three times. If possible, while repeating these movements, spend time walking through an area in one direction, then turn around and walk back the way you came.

It can take between 15 and 20 minutes for the HoloLens to fully map and adjust itself to its surroundings. If you have a space in which you plan to use a HoloLens frequently, taking that time up front to map the space can prevent issues later on. If you see any of these errors please use the FeedbackHub to send feedback. Windows 10 version update for Microsoft HoloLens and later stores mapping data in a local on-device database.

HoloLens users cannot directly access the map database, even when the device is plugged into a PC or when using the File Explorer app. When BitLocker is enabled on HoloLens, the stored map data is also encrypted along with the entire volume. To delete nearby holograms, select Remove nearby holograms. This command clears the map data and anchored holograms for the current space.

If you continue to use the device in the same space, it creates and stores a brand new map section to replace the deleted information. For example, you can use this option to clear work-related map data without affecting any home-related map data. To delete all holograms, select Remove all holograms. This command clears all map data that is stored on the device as well as all anchored holograms.

You will need to explicitly place any holograms. You will not be able to rediscover the previously-placed holograms. After you remove nearby or all holograms, HoloLens immediately starts scanning and mapping the current space. HoloLens stores Wi-Fi characteristics to help correlate hologram locations and map sections that are stored within the HoloLens database of known spaces.

Information about Wi-Fi characteristics is not accessible to users, and not sent to Microsoft using the cloud or using telemetry. There is no difference in behavior whether a network is connected or just detected nearby. If Wi-Fi is disabled, HoloLens still searches the space. Aggregation or smoothing can also be performed over time; for example, you can limit the maximum speed at which a hologram can vary in distance from the user.

Simply limiting the minimum and maximum distance value can also help, so the hologram being moved doesn't suddenly fly away into the distance or come crashing back into the user's face. Applications can also use the shape and direction of surfaces to guide hologram placement. A holographic chair shouldn't penetrate through walls and should sit flush with the floor even if it's slightly uneven.

This kind of functionality would likely rely upon the use of physics collisions rather than raycasts, however similar concerns will apply. If the hologram being placed has many small polygons that stick out, like the legs on a chair, it may make sense to expand the physics representation of those polygons to something wider and smoother so that they're more able to slide over spatial surfaces without snagging.

At its extreme, user input can be simplified away entirely and spatial surfaces can be used to do entirely automatic hologram placement. For example, the application could place a holographic light-switch somewhere on the wall for the user to press.

The same caveat about predictability applies doubly here; if the user expects control over hologram placement, but the application doesn't always place holograms where they expect if the light-switch appears somewhere that the user can't reach , then this will be a frustrating experience. It can actually be worse to do automatic placement that requires user correction some of the time, than to just require the user to always do placement themselves; because successful automatic placement is expected , manual correction feels like a burden!

Note also that the ability of an application to use spatial surfaces for placement depends heavily on the application's scanning experience. If a surface hasn't been scanned, then it cannot be used for placement.

It's up to the application to make this clear to the user, so that they can either help scan new surfaces or select a new location. Visual feedback to the user is of paramount importance during placement. The user needs to know where the hologram is based on the nearest surface with grounding effects. They should understand why the movement of their hologram is being constrained for example, because of collisions with another nearby surface.

If they can't place a hologram in the current location, then visual feedback should make it clear why not. For example, if the user is trying to place a holographic couch stuck half-way into the wall, then the portions of the couch that are behind the wall should pulsate in an angry color.

Or conversely, if the application can't find a spatial surface in a location where the user can see a real-world surface, then the application should make this clear. The obvious absence of a grounding effect in this area may achieve this purpose. One of the primary uses of spatial mapping surfaces is simply to occlude holograms. This simple behavior has a huge impact on the perceived realism of holograms, helping to create a visceral sense that really inhabits the same physical space as the user.

Occlusion also provides information to the user; when a hologram appears to be occluded by a real-world surface, this provides extra visual feedback as to the spatial location of that hologram in the world. Conversely, occlusion can also usefully hide information from the user; occluding holograms behind walls can reduce visual clutter in an intuitive way.

To hide or reveal a hologram, the user merely has to move their head. Occlusion can also be used to prime expectations for a natural user interface based upon familiar physical interactions; if a hologram is occluded by a surface it is because that surface is solid, so the user should expect that the hologram will collide with that surface and not pass through it. Sometimes, occlusion of holograms is undesirable. If a user needs to interact with a hologram, then they need to see it - even if it is behind a real-world surface.

In such cases, it usually makes sense to render such a hologram differently when it's occluded for example, by reducing its brightness.

This way, the user can visually locate the hologram, but they'll still know it's behind something. The use of physics simulation is another way in which spatial mapping can be used to reinforce the presence of holograms in the user's physical space.

When my holographic rubber ball rolls realistically off my desk, bounces across the floor and disappears under the couch, it might be hard for me to believe that it's not there. Physics simulation also provides the opportunity for an application to use natural and familiar physics-based interactions.

Moving a piece of holographic furniture around on the floor will likely be easier for the user if the furniture responds as if it were sliding across the floor with the appropriate inertia and friction. To generate realistic physical behaviors, you'll likely need to do some mesh processing such as filling holes, removing floating hallucinations and smoothing rough surfaces.

You'll also need to consider how your application's scanning experience influences its physics simulation. Firstly, missing surfaces won't collide with anything; what happens when the rubber ball rolls off down the corridor and off the end of the known world?

Secondly, you need to decide whether you'll continue to respond to changes in the environment over time. In some cases, you'll want to respond as quickly as possible; say if the user is using doors and furniture as movable barricades in defense against a tempest of incoming Roman arrows.

In other cases though, you may want to ignore new updates; driving your holographic sports car around the racetrack on your floor may suddenly not be so fun if your dog decides to sit in the middle of the track. Applications can use spatial mapping data to grant holographic characters or agents the ability to navigate the real world in the same way a real person would.

This can help reinforce the presence of holographic characters by restricting them to the same set of natural, familiar behaviors as those of the user and their friends. Navigation capabilities could be useful to users as well. Once a navigation map has been built in a given area, it could be shared to provide holographic directions for new users unfamiliar with that location. This map could be designed to help keep pedestrian 'traffic' flowing smoothly, or to avoid accidents in dangerous locations like construction sites.

The key technical challenges involved in implementing navigation functionality will be reliable detection of walkable surfaces humans don't walk on tables! The mesh may require some processing before it's usable for path-planning and navigation by a virtual character. Smoothing the mesh and removing hallucinations may help avoid characters becoming stuck.

You may also wish to drastically simplify the mesh to speed up your character's path-planning and navigation calculations. These challenges have received a great deal of attention in the development of video game technology, and there's a wealth of available research literature on these topics.

The built-in NavMesh functionality in Unity cannot be used with spatial mapping surfaces. This is because spatial mapping surfaces aren't known until the application starts, but NavMesh data files need to be generated from source assets ahead of time.

Also note that, the spatial mapping system won't provide information about surfaces far away from the user's current location.