Have You Seen This?: Secrets of Ancient Egypt Shows the Potential of HoloLens Tourism

A few days ago, I pulled up the Windows Store on my HoloLens and saw a few new applications. One that caught my attention was Oriental Museum, which lets you explore China's Forbidden City, and the other one is very similar free demo app called Secrets of Ancient Egypt by Link Development.

Secrets of Ancient Egypt

This application is a demonstration of what virtual exhibits in a museum could be like. This experience is very simple in scope, relatively short, but looks great! See for yourself in my video below. I apologize if my head movement is a bit harsh at moments... I have been out of practice making these videos.

After a short splash screen, what appears to be a doorway of sorts appears. After a quick air tap, the doorway transitions into a tomb of Anubis, and a narration begins telling information about the old Egyptian god. It was nice to see the ancient architecture sitting in my living room.

Pros:

• Great-looking 3D modeling and use of particle systems.
• Good mood-setting ambiance.
• Taught me things I did not know.

Cons:

• Using voice synthesis for voiceover work never sounds right.
• There should have been a bit more interaction.

Secrets of Ancient Egypt/Windows Store

We will continue seeing these demonstration programs for some time as developers continue to solve the various problems that arise from this new technology. And often these demonstrations are from developers looking to find better funding for their projects.

I would argue that we need to put a bit more time into these type of experiences. We need to add more interactivity to interest people. We need to give the user a bit more to chew on, and that will contribute substantially to getting stable funding for our projects and blowing the minds of consumer users. Because in the end, let's face it—if we want this platform that we are working so hard on to succeed in the public space, we are going to have to be blowing minds.

What did you think of the experience? Did I move my head too fast? Let me know in the comments below, but please don't beat me up if I did. Thanks.

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Cover image by Secrets of Ancient Egypt/Windows Store