Windows Mixed Reality Commander is a Universal Windows application that demonstrates using the Windows Device Portal in a classroom environment. It enables observation and management of one or more HoloLens and/or Windows PC devices. Along with managing a classroom, Windows Mixed Reality Commander can be used to effectively control devices in a demo environment.
This application is built upon the open source Windows Device Portal Wrapper project and is used by the Microsoft HoloLens team in the Holographic Academy.
Windows Mixed Reality Commander requires:
- A Windows 10 Device (Currently tested on x86 and x64)
- A HoloLens or Windows PC (In developer mode with the Windows Device Portal enabled and configured)
Building Windows Mixed Reality Commander requires Visual Studio 2015 Community and the Windows 10 SDK. Visual Studio 2015 Professional and Enterprise are also supported.
- Load HoloLensCommander.sln
- Build and deploy the solution.
The Connect button reads the user name and password, then displays a dialog allowing you to target a specific device.
Before attempting to connect to a device, please be sure that the Windows Device Portal is enabled and paired with your desired credentials.
Note: Windows PCs must be rebooted after enabling the Windows Device Portal.
Enter the IP Address in the Address field. If you are connecting to a Windows PC, you must also provide the port number (typically 50443). To determine the correct address to specify:
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HoloLens: Run the Settings application, select Network & Internet > Wi-Fi.
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Windows PC : Run the Settings application, select Update & Security > For Developers.
If you wish to set your device onto a specific network access point, enter the SSID and network key in these boxes.
Checking Update Connection instructs Windows Mixed Reality Commander to query the device for the first valid (non-169.x.x.x) IP address it reports.
If you specified an SSID, this value may change, and the connection update may fail. Please retry the connection again without setting the SSID and verify the correct network configuration in the Settings application.
The additional options (…) button displays a menu that provide less common connection related functionality.
Reconnect to previous session
This option allows you to reconnect to the devices that were connected in a previous session of Windows Mixed Reality Commander.
For this to be successful, devices need to have been connected using a common set of credentials and the credentials must be set in the User name and Password fields before selecting this option.
Note: Reconnect to previous session will not appear in the additional options menu after
a reconnection has been attempted or the Connect button has been used one or more times.
Set credentials as new default
This stores the current values for user name and password in a text file that resides in the Windows Mixed Reality Commander’s application data folder.
Note: This data is stored in clear text and should not be considered secure storage.
Use default credentials
If you have persisted the device credentials, you can use the Use default credentials to instruct Windows Mixed Reality Commander in the case where they may have been overridden for a specific device.
Getting the IP address from your HoloLens can be a more time-consuming process than getting it from your Windows PC (ex: ipconfig).
Users of the Windows Device Portal are aware of the ability to connect to an attached HoloLens using the loopback address (http://127.0.0.1:10080) when the Windows Phone IP over USB Transport service is installed (available as part of the Windows 10 SDK) and running.
To take advantage of this feature, Windows Mixed Reality Commander will default to this loopback address if the Connect dialog’s Address field is left blank.
Note: By default, UWP applications are subject to network isolation. For development and
side-load scenarios, your PC can be configured to allow an application to establish
loopback connections.
Building Windows Mixed Reality Commander using Visual Studio, on the PC on which it will
be run, will automatically configure to allow loopback connections.
For side-load scenarios, please refer to the documentation describing network isolation
troubleshooting (https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/apps/hh780593.aspx). The application container name, at the time of this writing, for
Windows Mixed Reality Commander is “HoloLensCommander_ksbfhw2wnm4q4”.
The applications section displays and controls applications that are common to all selected devices. Each time a device is selected or deselected, this list is updated.
The Close All button will stop all running UWP applications on the selected devices. To be more selective in closing an application, you will need to use the Manage apps option for each device.
The mixed reality capture section allows you to start and stop a recording on the selected devices. You can also save them to the PC running Windows Mixed Reality Commander and optionally delete them from the device after they have been saved locally.
Files are saved to your PC’s Pictures Library under HoloLensCommander, and each device’s files will be placed in a folder named after the device’s address or tag.
Note: Windows PC devices do not support Mixed Reality Capture.
The device control section allows you to bulk reboot or shutdown the selected devices. It also allows you to instruct Windows Mixed Reality Commander to forget all connected devices.
Reboots the devices selected in the device list. Devices will show “Lost connected to the device” while rebooting and will reactivate upon completion.
Shuts down the selected devices. Devices remain in the list and will report “Lost connection to the device”.
Forgets all connected devices by removing them from the devices list and updating the application state.
When you connect a device (HoloLens or Windows PC) an entry will be created in the device list (right side of the UI).
In the previous image, the upper device is a HoloLens and the lower is a Windows PC. You can differentiate, at a glance by the items highlighted in the red and blue boxes.
The HoloLens supports viewing and setting the interpupillary distance (IPD) and provides controls to view and update the value (red box).
Windows PC devices do not support the IPD controls and have a small icon (blue box) between the additional options button (…) and the address.
There are times when you need to manage applications on a single device. To accomplish this, select the Manage apps from the menu displayed when clicking the additional commands button (…).
Runs the app selected in the Installed Applications list.
Uninstalls the app selected in the Installed Applications list.
Stops the app selected in the Running Applications list.
Stops all apps listed in the Running Applications list.
Windows Mixed Reality Commander can manage one or more HoloLens and/or Windows PC devices in a classroom or demo setting. The following sections describe common usage patterns for both settings.
HoloLens is designed for all users. The headband is adjustable to fit different sized heads and the optics are designed to allow for different distances between the eyes (interpupillary distance).
To promote user comfort and hologram clarity, it is recommended to configure the IPD to match the user. There are two convenient methods for setting this value.
If the user is already aware of his/her IPD, you can use the edit button to the right of the IPD to set it directly.
Clicking Ok will send the desired value to the HoloLens. Within a few seconds, the UI will be updated to reflect the new setting.
If the user is not aware of his/her IPD, you can run the HoloLens Calibration application to have the value measured and set.
There are two ways this can be performed using Windows Mixed Reality Commander:
- Start and run Calibration on ALL selected devices.
- Run Calibration on a specific device using the Manage apps option for that device.
While Calibration is running you will see “Waiting for Calibration to exit” in the device control. When complete, the control will display “Calibration has exited”.
Controlling application lifetime is a common requirement when running a classroom or demo. Students and users often are required to spend a finite time in any given experience before moving on to the next task.
Windows Mixed Reality Commander enables application lifetime control by using the Common Applications controls or the Manage Apps option for a specific device.
When an application is running on a device, you will see "Waiting for Application to exit" on the right side of the appropriate device list entry.
When the application has been closed, by the user or via Windows Mixed Reality Commander, the message will change to "Application has exited".
Mixed Reality is a new experience for many users, and they may, at times, get confused with where to look and/or how to interact with your application. To help you help your users, Windows Mixed Reality Commander provides Mixed Reality view.
Note: Mixed Reality View is only available for HoloLens devices.
Mixed Reality view allows you to see what your user is seeing, enabling you to guide and assist him/her.
Note: Windows Mixed Reality Commander supports Mixed Reality view for one HoloLens device at a time.
To turn on Mixed Reality view, click the additional options (…) button for the device and select Mixed Reality view.
This will cause the user to see a red "REC" indication, in the upper left of the Holographic Frame. It is recommended that you tell your user to expect to see this. The indicator will turn off when you close the Mixed Reality view dialog.
If you are managing multiple devices, it can become challenging to keep track of who is using which device. To make that easier, Windows Mixed Reality Commander allows you to tag the device with a custom name that is not communicated to the device.
For example, you may have 30 HoloLens devices in your classroom and notice that a student named Mick is having trouble with his assignment. Rather than having to memorize that IP address 10.254.130.7 is Mick's device, you can select the edit button next to the Name field to display the Tag Device dialog.
This will allow you to set a descriptive name for the device.
Windows Mixed Reality Commander depends on:
- Windows Device Portal The device must be in developer mode with the Windows Device Portal enabled and paired.
- Windows Device Portal Wrapper
- https://github.com/Microsoft/WindowsDevicePortalWrapper
We welcome and encourage contributions to the Windows Mixed Reality Commander project. We look forward to evolving this tool with the community!