The Future of Desktop AR and Holographic NFTs

Hey everyone!

My name is Sirislip (aka Rabbit). I created an SDK for Desktop AR tech called Holo-SDK. I have been working on Desktop AR for more than 10 years (throughout my master and PhD studies). I am very honoured for being here :) So I prepare a detailed introduction about what we do for you guys! 


What is Desktop AR?
Desktop AR is a technique that enables laptop and desktop computers to produce AR effect without needing a phone or a headset. It creates the illusion of 3D objects floating in front of a screen by rendering red-blue 3D images according to a user's viewing position. User can download the play Desktop AR apps by using their computer, webcam, and anaglyph glasses. More about Desktop AR here (https://www.holo-sdk.com/how-desktopar-works)

What's cool about it?

-You get the holographic experience and seeing things floating in front of the screen. Here is a YouTube demo of what it felt like when playing a Desktop AR (https://youtu.be/cuvJxsB285k). Yes, the colour will be a bit purple-ish because of the red-blue glasses. If that is what bothers you, you can also use an active/passive 3D display to overcome this issue.

-Users do not need to have AR glasses or a headset, which tends to be pricy. Desktop AR utilizes hardware that everyone already has and red-blue glasses that are available online for a low price. This also means that more potential users for your Desktop AR applications.

-More immersive than mobile AR. Mobile AR's experience is limited by small display size and lack of stereoscopic. Unlike Desktop AR and AR glasses, Mobile AR enhances the realism of a video that a user sees on a device, rather than enhancing the viewing experience of the user directly.

How to make your own Desktop AR app?
You can make Desktop AR apps by using Holo-SDK. Holo-SDK is a unity plugin. You can download and start developing going to (https://www.holo-sdk.com/get-started). We do have a free developer license there, so you can play with the tech without cost. We also have documents (https://docs.holo-sdk.com/docs/holo-sdk-manual/overview/), so that you can use the SDK easier.


What can Holo-SDK be used for?

We have been using it to improve the learning experience for students. The students were very engaged, and we had a lot of fun. Moreover, we are working with world-class museums on a holographic exhibition project. So that everyone can have a museum experience at home! 

Check out an article about our educational workshop on the UK government website here: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/thai-uk-augmented-reality-company-perception-codes-brings-students-on-immersive-journey-to-mars


Holo-NFT??? (https://www.morpheus.art/)

You may think - great another person jumping onto the NFT bandwagon

And you are right! But please let me elaborate because I really see an opportunity for improving the arts, culture, education and software sectors here :)

Let's start by looking at normal NFT. Most of them are pictures and intangible. For example, NFT of a Perseverance Mars rover is just picture of the rover. Even though the image is officially minted and sold by NASA, you can google it and find it. Why pay so much money for it? 

Now consider an alternative use case, instead of a picture, NASA mints a holographic figurine using Desktop AR tech. You can experience the rover as if it is floating in front of your screen. You can control who access your Holo-NFT. You can lend it Desktop AR apps and receive dividend from your NFT. Your Holo-NFT is one of the kind asset and not available on the net. Users, Holo-NFT collectors and Desktop AR developers will be tapping into holographic contents and support content creators like museums and 3D artist. So that they can digitize more historical artefacts or create awesome 3D arts. 

Looking forward to getting to know everyone here and your question!
Sorry for a long post. Here is a potato :potato:

How is your description of NFT any different from existing DRM?

anthony watson Yes, you are right! It is a form of Digital Right Management. In a way, we are integrating into NFT. We can do so because the holographic representation is not a common file format that anyone can access publicly on the internet.

I had the pleasure of testing some of the Holo-SDK apps your team created. Great work on those!

When I found the right angle and adjusted the settings the experience was quite good. It's amazing that this technology is possible without a special computer or hardware.

However, in my opinion there is room for error in the current model (IPD settings, position of the red-blue glasses, how far the person is sitting from the screen, etc.) Are you working on V2 improvements that can cut down some of this room for error?

Does the quality of your computer display and the quality of your camera affect the desktop AR experience at all?

Limarc Ambalina Yes, we are working on the V2 to improve the accuracy and performance.
This version of Holo-SDK is a form of MVP. We are testing it with the early adopters/developers to see that there is a market for it, and to see which feature should we implement or improve. Now that we have a majors project coming up with the museums, we will be releasing an improved version soon.

Regarding the quality, one of the most common issues is ghosting (seeing double image). It caused by a picture of one eye leak to another. The level of ghosting can change depending on the type of the display and type of the anaglyph glasses. For example, we find that paper anaglyph glasses produce a much better experience than more expensive plastic glasses. As for the head tracking, it depends more on the lighting environment. Using it with a light on will give much better tracking than using Holo-SDK in a dark room because the software is tracking the user from RGB images.

Amazing project! Can you share more about Holo-SDK collaboration with museums?

Daria Kulish We are finalizing the details of the project with the museums. Tentatively, we will use museums' 3D model, label text and information to create Desktop AR apps. Then we will be distributing 20,000 glasses to schools in the UK and Thailand. So that students can learn about historical artefacts as if they are floating in front of the screen. We have created multiple workshops with schools, the kids love it :)

Thanks for doing an AMA! Do you see a use case for this in a sales/marketing capacity?

Amy Tom Regarding sales and marketing, yes I do see many use case for it. In a way, the purpose of the Holo-Exhibition project with museums is to demonstrate how Holo-SDK can be used for PR and marketing. I see a similar trend with mobile-based AR in the past, where IKEA apps and Pokemon go. Those apps show the public and other brands how mobile-AR can create a new experience for the customers.

Woah AR NFTS!?! The energy cost to mint an NFT for an image are still through the roof imho. AR files and functions are much bigger. How big do you think the energy cost barrier is to minting NFTs for augmented reality?

David Smooke Yes, the energy required and carbon footprint that NFT created is a huge concern. The energy requires to mint Holo-NFT is about the same as traditional NFT because it is just about creating a unique reference id to a file on IPFS. This does not mean energy consumption is not our concern. There will be two chains that 3D artist would be able to mint. The first one is on Ethereum. I do not have much control over that but I really looking forward to Ethereum 2 will improve the situation. The second chain is our semi-decentralized chain. Only certain organizations such as art gallery and museums will have a node on our chain, which reduce energy consumption drastically.

hey Sirisilp Kongsilp (i think it’s so cool that your name starts with Siri haha) - What are the most important use cases for Holo-SDK that you already implemented and what are some of the ones you look forward to do but not yet able to, and why?

Linh Dao Smooke, Thanks 🙂 The most important one is education. From what I have seen, students really enjoy learning with it. I am looking forward to bring this AR/MR experience to less fortunate kids who do not have an access to VR/AR headsets in a rural area.

What I want to see are games. My team are software engineers and researchers. We do not have that artistic quality to make beautiful games. ^^

David Smooke Yes, the energy required and carbon footprint that NFT created is a huge concern. The energy requires to mint Holo-NFT is about the same as traditional NFT because it is just about creating a unique reference id to a file on IPFS. This does not mean energy consumption is not our concern. There will be two chains that 3D artist would be able to mint. The first one is on Ethereum. I do not have much control over that but I really looking forward to Ethereum 2 will improve the situation. The second chain is our semi-decentralized chain. Only certain organizations such as art gallery and museums will have a node on our chain, which reduce energy consumption drastically.

Does Hollographic includes movies and sounds or just pictures?

mcsee Not just pictures. It includes interactive 3D content, sounds, movie and pictures (as sprite). You can arrange those media anywhere in the 3D space.

Hello Sirisilp Kongsilp 👋 For artists interested in submitting to the Morpheus project: Do you have any advice they should keep in mind before submitting, considering there's a review process?

Katarina For artists that join the project, we recommend testing the art using Holo-NFT viewer before submitting. Moreover, after joining, we are reaching out to the artist one by one. So that we can facilitate them in any way that we can. As well as getting feedback on what are the important features that we need to implement next.

Are you an artist? :)

Please forgive me for my bad English. It is not my native language and it is almost 2 am in morning here 🙂 My head is a bit slow but I am honored to be here and sharing Holo-SDK with everyone.

Nice. Do you just work on AR o also VR ?

Sirisilp Kongsilp Not an artist myself, though I find the concept amazing. It's good to know early adopters get direct support through the process. Thanks for the answer 🙂

mcsee I have also worked with VR int he past. Mainly looking into how VR headset can help special students learn to perform daily life better. Here is a short paper I published about it. (https://dl.acm.org/doi/pdf/10.1145/3359996.3364721?casa_token=Dyho9zSIfGMAAAAA:s9n3nnCKi1L3WDctWA5SoqI7tBbciQHsxS-qNePdMKgEQGSj0Vy6WCsRriogYpgdywwDR9prf7mOJg)

I hope I'm not late to join this party. How much time do you think will has gone by, before each of us will have a VR set at home and we'll start to work "at virtual companies, workspaces".
like we doing it right now, but with much more comfort?

Arthur Tkachenko
Honestly, I don't really see a future where people put on a headset and meet/mingle in a virtual building. Unless VR tech becomes so real like in the ready player one movie. I agree with you that what we are doing right now is much more comfortable and practical. Gamify education makes sense to me but gamify works do not.

My personal opinion is that in the future, we come home, sitting in front of a computer and everything comes out of it holographically. This can be done using Desktop AR with a glasses-free 3D panel (autostereoscopic display). We can shop, play, communicate or work in this holographic environment. If you like to jump into a virtual environment, then you put on the headset. That is my personal take on the future :)

Thank you for asking.

Thank you for having me everyone!

Thanks for joining us for this quick AMA Sirisilp! And thanks for doing it late night your time.

thank you. very exciting !

If you have any further questions, please feel free to ask away. If you like, we can also connect on LinkedIn. Here is my profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rabbit/