Microsoft HoloLens App Can Make Holographic Movies On A Tiny Budget

Microsoft has taken the wraps off a new movie capture app for the HoloLens. Actiongram, revealed Monday, will let movie makers create augmented reality stories using Microsoft’s headgear and then record what's known as a mixed reality capture (MRC) video for playback on regular screens.

“I am excited to share that we already have some of the world’s best social storytellers creating holographic stories using Actiongram and HoloLens,” said Kudo Tsunoda, corporate vice president at Microsoft, in a statement. “It is amazing to see the creativity and hilarity people are able to deliver with this new medium.”

The app is the latest in a line of HoloLens programs that have consumer-facing potential. Early HoloLens demonstrations focused on how the device could help carry out repairs, by hosting a Skype session with an expert or overlaying instructions over the user’s field of vision.

Microsoft has slowly expanded out the HoloLens’ potential by demonstrating games and experiences more appealing to non-professionals. Another app, RoboRaid, involves shooting robots as they crawl through the user’s living room. The game is one of three bundled with the developer kit.

Actiongram was previously leaked by Twitter user h0x0r back in February, along with the HoloLens start menu, preferences, photos app and Microsoft Edge web browser. The leak revealed that children under 13 are not meant to use the HoloLens, which may limit the creations made with Actiongram.

The app bodes well for third party developers looking to easily make their own HoloLens apps. Actiongrams, Tsunoda claims, was built in just six months by a team of five.

The HoloLens does not yet have a firm release date for consumers, but selected developers will receive their HoloLens orders on March 30. It doesn’t come cheap, though: the developer version of HoloLens is priced at $3,000.