News: 'Land of Dinosaurs' HoloLens App Brings Jurassic Park to Life with Holograms

Jurassic Park makes a great (and sometimes mediocre) action movie, but hopefully isn't the sort of thing we're dumb enough to actually make. Fortunately, on the HoloLens, you can now walk with the dinosaurs with no risk to your life and limbs.

Land of Dinosaurs aims to transport you back about 65 million years so you can walk among the giants of the Mesozoic Era right in your living room. Basically, it's like visiting Rome or Machu Picchu in HoloTour, but far deeper into the past.

Like HoloTour, the small field of view on the HoloLens comes into play. Rather than becoming fully immersed in this other universe, you look through a portal into it. While I believe the limited field of view was the right choice for a device like the HoloLens, this kind of experience puts a spotlight on the HoloLens' limitations. It feels like something better suited for the HTC Vive.

That said, it's still pretty awesome. Spatial sound helps make up for the limited field of view, as you can hear your environment around you. Additionally, as video just cannot demonstrate, the HoloLens makes it possible for you to get a realistic idea of how large these dinosaurs actually were. In some cases, it's like experiencing what it would be like to interact with a dog the size of a building. We hardly have a point of reference for something like that, and the HoloLens can provide one through software like this.

Land of Dinosaurs seems to be a calling card for Zengalt, its developer. The app is free to download on the Windows Store, and it includes a sales pitch for creating custom experiences like Land of Dinosaurs for educational institutions looking to invest in the future—and they should, if Zengalt can continue to deliver results like this.

• Follow NextReality on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube
• Follow WonderHowTo on Facebook, Twitter, and Google+