Microsoft is aiming for a new goal, and that is to make things easier for users to capture, create and share in 3D. To accomplish the mission, the tech giant is bringing The Creators Update. With it, Microsoft will also make its Edge to be the first browser to bring 3D to the web.
First on its list is the famous Paint app. Microsoft has introduced a new way to bring ideas to life with Paint 3D, the company's new 3D art studio. It has also introduced a new online community called Remix3D.com to connect creators and creations around the world.
As a start, Microsoft is welcoming anyone to start creating and sharing their Paint 3D creations by joining Windows Insider Program.
The next is Microsoft's Office apps to support 3D models and add new inking features. This includes support for 3D models and new inking capabilities.
For example, using PowerPoint in Windows 10, users will be able to add 3D models by rotating them in three dimensions to then apply transitions, similar to cinematic 3D animations. The new inking tool is introduced in October 26th, 2016. And for Word users, an Ink Editor allows their digital pen to make changes directly within the app.
Microsoft is ready to push 3D features into Windows, and all that for a common goal: to make experience go beyond the limited scale of a screen.
But why 3D?
According to Megan Saunders, Microsoft's General Manager for Windows Experiences Group:
Using 3D, users can better communicate ideas and expressions. It accelerates comprehension because the model is more capable to represent the world we live in.
Humans live in a multi-dimensional world, and have long used their creativity for expression. However, in the current digital world, we're somehow limited to the two-dimensional canvas. Microsoft implementing 3D features is meant to make users to be able to communicate ideas and expression better.
Paint is one of the most basic computer graphics app. It's availability has been included with all versions of Microsoft Windows. Despite being dwarfed by many other photo editing tools, Paint is still popular in its own way. And its simple character remains the same in Paint 3D. This will allow Windows users to quickly and easily create arts in a new dimension. Brushes for example, can now work directly on 3D.
And because a good art is nothing unless shared, Microsoft's Remix 3D is meant to become the hub for such graphics. There, users can share and repurpose millions of 3D objects and models, including the ability for Minecraft players to share their 3D creations with the community.
As a start, Microsoft is partnering with Trimble to bring the modelling program SketchUp and their millions of creators and creations to be a part of 3D Mix.
The next thing that comes in Microsoft's mind is the ability to bring creations back again to this world. What this means is that Microsoft is leveraging its attempt in bringing the real world into canvas, and then again back to the real world.
Using Paint 3D, users just need to capture objects in the real world in 3D using their camera, or just create a 3D art from scratch. These arts can be then enjoyed and experienced with Microsoft putting its virtual reality into play.
Windows 10 users allows 3D contents to flow beyond the screen by putting them back to real world in the form of virtual world holograms.
Here, Microsoft wants to eliminate the boundaries between the physical and digital world that are known to be restricted on a screen. And that is by making its well-known Windows operating system the center of the 3D universe.