Today I celebrate 7 years of working at 3XM Group.

A company in which I had the opportunity to go through several roles, today fulfilling one of the ones I like the most, Innovation Evangelist. What better day than today to thank you for the opportunity to let me participate in events and continue learning day by day.

I just came back from Redmond after having attended Microsoft mixed reality dev days on June 8-9. First a couple of words about the event, it was held in building 92 on MS’ campus in Redmond, attendees from all over the world. 

What is the MR DEV DAYS and what was presented?

MR Dev Days is a 2-day hybrid event that you could join via livestream or in-person at the Microsoft Campus in Redmond, WA.

One of the updates on development presented was on StereoKit, which is a lightweight, code-first, open-source library for building Mixed Reality experiences using C# and OpenXR. It provides easy APIs to address some of the most common and challenging aspects of development including UI, inputs, interactions, physics, shaders/material systems, working with text, asset loading, and much more. StereoKit is designed to work on HoloLens 2, desktop, or any VR device that uses the OpenXR runtime (e.g. Oculus Quest, Windows Mixed Reality, etc.).

Other updates presented were the latest progress of OpenXR for Mixed Reality, as well as its integration to Unity, Unreal engines.

Unreal engine 5 Support for Windows Mixed Reality (including HoloLens) in the Unreal Engine is transitioning to OpenXR. Why. When (Now!). How. What app developers need to know.

They also showed different ways deep learning models can and will be used in gaming, with demos on how to use the new Neural Network Inference plugin that was released with Unreal Engine 5.

Another amazing presentation was the one about Data Binding and Theming package and how it makes it easy to integrate data driven content and styling into any MR application.

Finally the most interesting presentation for me was the Moving Platform Mode (MPM). A mode that allows the HoloLens 2 to function correctly while inside vehicles, particularly vehicles with lower maximum acceleration like ships and oil rigs.

Conclusion

I know there might be some controversy in Microsoft’s Mixed Reality efforts right now with the departure of Alex Kipman, but work at Microsoft still goes on, and trust me, its better than ever.

Hybrid events are here to stay, and I think they’re a must have, as it allows for personal interaction between key players in the tech community. On this trip I had the opportunity to share a panel with Sean Ong, writer of the book “Beginning Windows Mixed Reality Programming”, Niantic Developer Relations Lead Joe Gabriel, and Microsoft Mixed Reality Developer Ecosystem PM Jesse McCulloch.

I also had the opportunity to talk with Cassie Breviu, Senior Technical Program Manager at Microsoft and April Speight Spatial Computing Lead at Microsoft. We talked about the importance of women in technology and how not to lose motivation among other things.

And last but not least… met with Seth Juarez, Principal Program Manager, AI Platform at Microsoft.

I will be sharing new content about all the things i had the opportunity to see during my trip.

At 3XM Group, we aspire to keep on creating software for virtual reality, augmented reality, and mixed reality, across headsets and devices.  If you want to set up a meeting with me to discuss your needs in these areas, feel free to contact me at ivana.tilca@3xmgroup.com.

Happy Coding 🙂