Newcastle聽3D imaging and mixed reality (MR) company Luminous VR has joined Microsoft鈥檚 partner programme.
The company, which has created interactive holographic models of some of Britain鈥檚 most famous structures, will use Microsoft technology to help businesses enjoy the benefits of mixed reality.
Luminous聽replicates buildings and vehicles in MR so firms can use headsets such as聽Microsoft HoloLens聽to train staff in fire safety, for example, or help the public learn more about the location they are visiting.
It has recreated聽RRS Discovery, the last traditional wooden three-masted ship to be built in Britain, which carried Robert Falcon Scott and Ernest Shackleton on their first, successful journey to the Antarctic in 1901.
Visitors to the ship in Dundee can virtually explore the area and enter Shackleton and Scott鈥檚 personal quarters.
Luminous has also constructed MR experiences of the聽O2 Arena, in London, and a聽virtual reality rendering of聽Tintern Abbey, the best-preserved medieval abbey in Wales.
Rather than put users in a fully computer-generated world, as virtual reality does, HoloLens allows users to place 3D digital models in the room alongside them.
As the Windows-10-based product does not have wires or external cameras, or require a phone or PC connection, users can walk around the objects they create and interact with them using gestures, gaze and voice.
The UK company has been so successful that it has been named a聽Microsoft Mixed Reality Partner.
Its staff will now use their skills in development and 3D art design to help other businesses adopt and use MR technology such as HoloLens.
鈥淢ixed reality has enormous growth potential in a wide range of commercial environments,鈥� said聽Luminous managing director and founder Ben Bennett.
鈥淲e鈥檙e really excited to be at the forefront of it and working in partnership with Microsoft gives us the edge in helping realise that potential.
鈥淭he Microsoft partnership programme is the greatest validation that we鈥檙e pushing our business in the right direction, and in partnership with Microsoft we can start to push even more boundaries of possibility.鈥�
Virtual, augmented and mixed reality is becoming increasingly important to companies across the globe.
According to market intelligence firm聽IDC: 鈥淭otal spending on AR/VR products and services is expected to soar from $11.4 billion in 2017 to nearly $215 billion 2021.鈥�
Microsoft鈥檚 Mixed Reality Partner programme has so far helped聽police forces across the UK to improve their operations, as well as train manufacturer Alstom, truck maker Paccar, home improvement business Lowe鈥檚 and engineering firm CDM Smith.
Luminous, which has offices in Newcastle, London and Seattle, will now add others to that list.
Leila Martine, product director of commercial mixed reality at Microsoft, said: 鈥淲e are delighted to have Luminous accredited as a Mixed Reality Partner.
鈥淲e are impressed with the company鈥檚 vision for its RIVO platform, which we believe has ground-breaking and disruptive potential by providing mixed reality asset mapping tools across a variety of industries.鈥�
Last month, Microsoft聽unveiled Dynamics 365 Layout and Dynamics 365 Remote Assist, which allows workers to collaborate via HoloLens.