Microsoft HoloLens.
Microsoft HoloLens

We’ve already seen some awesome applications for the HoloLens, from teaching a reporter how to replace a light switch to a full-on Minecraft demo at E3. But for Microsoft’s holographic headset to be a successful hardware platform, it’s going to need a big library of third-party apps.

Object Theory aims to fill that gap before the HoloLens even hits the market. The Portland, Ore.-based startup debuted yesterday. The company plans to create HoloLens applications for businesses that want a presence in the mixed reality market.

Michael Hoffman

The company was co-founded by two tech veterans whose backgrounds make them a logical fit for building HoloLens apps. Michael Hoffman was previously a principal engineering lead at Microsoft Studios. He worked on the prototype apps that reporters got to try out earlier this year. He also worked with NASA and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory to create software that could be used with the Curiosity rover mission. He left Microsoft earlier this year to move back to Portland and start Object Theory.

Raven Zachary has a long history of building apps for new platforms. The year the iPhone was launched, he founded iPhoneDevCamp (now iOSDevCamp) as another way to gather developers outside of Apple’s own developer conference. He also was director of the Obama ’08 iPhone app, which led to the formation of Small Society. That company built apps for Starbucks, Zipcar, Amazon and Whole Foods before Walmart bought it in 2012. Zachary built apps for the retail giant until he left earlier this year.

Raven Zachary
Raven Zachary

“We have what I think would be called an unfair advantage,” Hoffman said.

But that advantage might not last long. Object Theory may be the first startup to focus solely on producing software for the HoloLens, but others are expected to follow quickly

“We expect there to be dozens of companies similar to ours in the next 12 months,” Zachary said. “Most of the conversation today has been around hardware, but we’re seeing a shift in the conversation toward the software ecosystem.”

Object Theory hasn’t disclosed any clients, but the founders predict there will be strong demand from large companies for software to run on the new system. While Microsoft hasn’t released hardware for developers to test apps yet, Hoffman and Zachary can work with companies to develop the right ideas that can eventually develop into products, then turn those ideas into code that can be used in the enterprise space once the devices ship. Object Theory plans to have apps ready by the time the HoloLens launches.

HoloLens, unveiled in January, overlays virtual objects and scenes on the real world, letting people interact with this augmented world using gestures. Microsoft hasn’t said when HoloLens will launch, except that it will be “in the Windows 10 timeframe,” which could be interpreted many different ways.

HoloLens demonstrated during Microsoft's Build keynote.
HoloLens demonstrated during Microsoft’s Build keynote.

Hoffman and Zachary are excited about the medical applications and telepresence solutions. But there will be hurdles, including the need to train clients on using software on the new device.

Finding coders with the right skillset may be hard as well. Unity, the software used to create many of the 3-D environments found in augmented and virtual reality headset, might not have enough developers to sustain a large app ecosystem.

“Right now, you’re going to have to go into the video game market to find people who have Unity experience,” Zachary said.

“There’s a tremendous amount of skills [needed] to do 3-D in a mobile environment,” Hoffman said. “Those are also used to design games, but we want to use those skills in a non-game environment.”

Object Theory is currently self-funded from Zachary’s sale of Small Society to Walmart. The company is staffed by just the co-founders right now, but will start hiring soon.

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