Many Windows users now identify Cortana as Microsoft's helpful personal assistant built into Windows 10. But Cortana was a synthetic intelligence in the Halo series of games before making the transition to PA. So software developer Jarem Archer decided to combine the two and created a Cortana holographic assistant.
If Microsoft decided to compete with the Amazon Echo and Google Home devices beyond just offering a Cortana Speaker, then this would certainly be a good way to do so. Offer consumers a personal assistant holographic character, and I think we'd all be very tempted to buy one.
What Archer created is just a working concept, but it certainly proves the potential for such a device. The hologram he created is actually a Pepper's ghost illusion relying on angled mirror glass to work.
The full setup uses a board equipped with 4GB of RAM running Windows 10 and includes a built-in Arduino for controlling the lights on the platform. The required display is a portable USB monitor sitting on top of three panes of mirror glass, which is all mounted inside a 3D printed frame. A built-in microphone and speaker allow for interaction, while a camera allows for real-time face tracking so the hologram is always rendered at its best for a single viewer looking directly at it.
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There's two pieces of software involved beyond the native Windows 10 Cortana experience. The first is a Unity game engine application that displays and animates the Cortana character and associated graphics. The second is a proxy service acting as a relay for the commands to and from Cortana.
Archer points out that because his hologram relies on the native Windows 10 Cortana, it could be hooked up for home automation as well as answering your questions. A home run by a hologram? Over to you Microsoft!
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