Microsoft announced yesterday the launch of their new mixed reality capabilities for Power Apps becoming one of the first low-code no-code platforms that makes it possible for everyone to easily build mixed reality applications.
Power Apps has proven to be a popular choice for thousands of businesses and organizations allowing them to quickly build and digitize existing business processes with very little code. With today’s announcement, Microsoft is allowing these same organizations to reduce the time required to build mixed reality apps from months to days.
Rather than building bespoke mixed reality apps that require significant investment and specialized developers to create an app, Microsoft and Power Apps are enabling their customers to build drag-and-drop mixed reality apps that can be immediately deployed to their workers and their existing augmented reality capable devices digitalize workflows in a physical space or creating innovative methods using tools they are already familiar with.
Mixed Reality Ready
With mixed reality being added to Power Apps, uses will be able to create new app experiences including:
- Use 3D models or virtual volumetric representations to verify size, or if a room is big enough.
- Easily take measurements by using linear or volumetric measurements that can be used to kick off another process, or move to your data source.
- Bring 3D models into Power Apps that can be stored natively or use existing data connectors to access the models in services like SharePoint.
- If 3D isn’t an option, Power Apps can also use JPEGs or PNGs to represent an image in the real world helping you to visualize how a product or size might fit into an existing space.
Next Steps
For anyone interested in Power Apps with Mixed Reality, Microsoft has indicated that the public preview will start in May and that organizations can attend Microsoft’s upcoming Business Applications Virtual Launch Event to learn more.
