HoloKit X

2019 - 2023, at Reality Design Lab

Author / Botao Amber Hu, Yuchen Zhang, Sizheng Hao, Yilan Tao, Xiuhua Tang

Keywords / Mixed Reality, Authoring Tool

Contribution / UX design, user test, MR design, publication writing

In this project, I was responsible for developing the user flow, and user experience, and delivering the UI, while also contributing to the MR design of the MOFA series and the Typed Reality series.

Overview

An affordable iPhone accessory for Everyone to experience Mixed Reality

the HoloKit X, is an affordable wearable holographic headset that utilizes the user's smartphone to project virtual images and graphics into the real world, creating a seamless blend of digital and physical reality. The technology is aimed at developers, creatives, and enthusiasts who want to create and explore the MR experience.

HoloKit X (https://holokit.io/) is an award-winning open-source Mixed Reality (MR) toolkit that transforms your smartphone into an affordable optical see-through augmented reality headset designed for spatial computing enthusiasts. It aims to serve as the Mixed Reality equivalent of *Arduino*, offering a cost-effective alternative to feature-rich but expensive options like Vision Pro and HoloLens. HoloKit Xis an optical see-through mixed reality headset launched in 2022. It has received the Red Dot Design Award and the iF Design Award, representing a high-quality enhancement from the original HoloKit 1, a cardboard prototype introduced in 2017.

This toolkit is ideal for hackers, designers, and artists interested in hands-on spatial computing projects, such as combining the Internet of Things with mixed reality, thanks to its open-source nature. It's also beneficial for students learning mixed reality development on a budget, as well as for researchers who wish to customize their setup and fully utilize Apple's ARKit for immersive, multiplayer experiences. Furthermore, museums and exhibitions can use HoloKit to offer mixed reality experiences to large audiences, taking advantage of its affordability and adaptability.

The HoloKit app includes a series of realities, to demonstrate the capabilities and wonder of stereoscopic AR, experience immersive art dreams created by world-renewed digital artists, and battles with wizards and dragons by casting spells.

HoloKit’s killer feature is face-to-face multiplayer, which allows friends to battle together or against each other as wizards, by casting spells, and hunt down and battle dragons together. This has never been done before with AR and is now available for anybody to use.

The HoloKit app also enables others, with their own iPhone or iPad, to Dream Together with their friends using a unique spectator mode feature where battles, dragon hunts, and immersive art experiences can be viewed in real-time from a second screen. Simply download the app and await a pair request from a friend or friends with HoloKit(using AirDrop).

The HoloKit app, once iPhone is docked and paired, includes simple controls to switch between realities.

The included Apple Watch app enables motion control within HoloKit realities with any object and using the built-in gyroscope. Now any object you want can be your wand to cast spells in these new worlds and shared experiences.

The app also integrates with the Health app on iPhone and Apple Watch, allowing dreamers to track their activity and achieve fitness goals through individual battles and with their friends.