davidezordan / mixedrealitysamples

My mixed reality playground using Unity, the Mixed Reality Toolkit (MRTK) and OpenVR.

Mixed Reality Samples

My mixed reality playground using Unity, the Mixed Reality Toolkit (MRTK) and OpenVR.

Project uses models from:

• https://www.remix3d.com/details/G009SXJ40903?section=other-models

I’ve always been a big fan of manipulations, as in the past I worked on some multi-touch XAML Behaviors implementing rotate, translate and scale on 2D objects.

As I progress with my learning about HoloLens and Windows Mixed Reality, I had on my to-do list the task of exploring how to recreate this scenario in the 3D Mixed Reality context. Finally, during the weekend, I started some research while preparing a demo for some speaking engagements I’ll have over the next weeks.

As usual, the Mixed Reality Toolkit is a fantastic help for speeding up development, so I started my investigation analysing the GitHub repo and found that the dev branch now contains a new readme illustrating all the steps required to use a new Unity script TwoHandManipulatable.cs which enables rotate, translate and scale to 3D objects in Unity using two hands tap gestures with HoloLens and the Motion Controllers with the Immersive headsets.

I decided to give this a try using a model imported from the Remix 3D repository.

Importing the model from Remix 3D

I fired up Paint 3D and selected More models to explore the ones available online in Remix 3D: this is a great container of assets you can use in Mixed Reality apps. I chose to explore a model of the Mars Rover, so I selected and opened it.

Then I exported it as a 3D FBX object to be able to import in Unity and saved it on my local machine as MarsRover.fbx.

Creating the Unity project

I started a new Unity Project, and copied the folder Assets\MixedRealityToolkit from the dev branch of the MRT GitHub repository.

After applying the Mixed Reality Project and Scene settings from the corresponding menu, I was ready to import the Mars Rover model and associate the manipulation script.

I selected Assets->Import New Asset, searched for the previously saved mode MarsRover.fbx and adjusted the scale to X:60, Y:60, Z:60 to have it correctly visualised in my scene. Then, I inserted a new Capsule Collider for enabling interaction with the object:

Adding the TwoHandManipulatable script

After selecting the imported model, I actioned the Add Component button from the inspector tab and searched for the Two Hand Manipulatable script in the toolkit and then added it to the asset together with a BoundingBoxBasic for showing the boundaries when applying manipulations.

And set the manipulation mode to Move Rotate Scale.

The scene was completed, so I only had to test it with the device: I selected the File->Build Settings, generated the package and deployed it to HoloLens, and I got the Mars Rover ready to be explored with two-handed manipulations. Amazing!