More evidence Microsoft is bringing its Mixed Reality Viewer to Android

We posted a few days ago that Microsoft was looking for developers to create a 3D scanning and augmented reality application for mobile devices.

At the time it was not clear which platform this was for, though we assumed it was for iOS or Android, given the lack of Windows 10 Mobile handsets.

Now Italian site Surface-phone.it has noticed that Microsoft has delivered the answer to us all the way back in May, in their promotional video for Story Remix, which clearly shows a Samsung phone running Microsoft’s then View 3D app, now Mixed Reality viewer.

At the time Microsoft painted it as part of the workflow of users, being able to capture information on the phone they own already, and process it on their PC, but it was not clear then if Microsoft was simply talking about transferring media via OneDrive. In light of the job posting it now seems clear that Microsoft intends to develop a dedicated Mixed Reality application for Android (and likely iOS) that will let users capture images, view 3D models and possible scan items in 3D, a feature Microsoft promised for Windows 10 Mobile, but never delivered.

As a reminder, see that job posting for a Principal SW Engineering Manager for its 3D scanning and augmented reality on mobile devices team ,below:

As Principal SW Engineering Manager, you will lead multiple engineering teams, some specializing in computer vison others in application development and user experience. You’ll be partnering closely with a talented cross-discipline leadership team to develop products that push the bar on what’s possible with new technologies. You’ll lead the implementation and maintenance of new features, and be responsible for delivering products on-time and at high quality. You will set technical and program direction and deliver solid technical mentorship and feedback.

Given the multi-OS world we currently live it, the existence of such an app should improve the viability of Microsoft’s 3D efforts on the desktop, and may even allow users to view models created in Paint 3D using ARKit and ARCore on their phones.

The relevant bit can be seen around the 1:30 second mark in the video below.

https://youtu.be/kh0be6z-Zl8?t=1m30s

Via Surface-phone.it