Mixed Reality Toolkit (MRTK) v1 (aka HoloToolkit)
Apr 2017 – Apr 2018, Developer Experience Design | Analog | Microsoft
Mixed Reality Toolkit-Unity is an open-source project to share foundational components, building blocks for common interactions and UI controls for building Mixed Reality experiences in Unity.
![](https://dongyoonpark.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/MRTK_BuildingBlocks1-1024x222.jpg)
Background
The original version of MRTK, known as HoloToolkit didn’t have basic UI controls or spatial interaction building blocks. Because of this, a lot of developers and creators have to re-create or re-invent them. This created a big barrier for the new developers joining mixed reality and caused inconsistency in the app experiences.
Based on my personal experience in designing and developing apps for HoloLens, I proposed to the team to create common UI controls and interaction building blocks for Unity which is one of the most popular engines in AR/VR software development. The goal was to accelerate mixed reality app development and achieve a cohesive user experience.
Role
- Helped the team to define and prioritize the list of the building blocks for the developers
- Worked with technical designers to build extensible and modular building blocks that people can easily customize and infuse own brand identity
- Created example scenes that demonstrate how to use the building blocks
- Polished the visual and interaction design of the controls
- Reviewed Pull Requests on GitHub for UX related items
- Created documents that explain technical details and design guidelines
- Created videos with Mixed Reality Capture to promote MRTK’s features
- Engaged with the developer community through multiple channels including GitHub, Slack, and Mixed Reality Academy
- Drove re-branding effort from HoloToolkit to MRTK
Outcome
Building Blocks
Medium articles on MRTK’s building blocks
To introduce useful building blocks in MRTK, I personally wrote an article on Medium. To make it easier to understand, I created videos, screenshots, and diagrams. This Medium post became one of the most popular articles on mixed reality, in the AR/VR designer/developer community.
MRTK: Open-Source Building Blocks for Windows Mixed Reality
Presented at Unity Unite Berlin 2018
Open-source Building Blocks for Windows Mixed Reality Experiences
Presented at AWE 2018
Open-source Building Blocks for Windows Mixed Reality Experiences. A talk in the Develop Track at AWE USA 2018 -XR Conference & Expo in Santa Clara, California May 30- June 1, 2018.
GitHub
htk_release branch is the MRTK v1 (HoloToolkit)
https://github.com/Microsoft/MixedRealityToolkit-Unity/tree/htk_release