Exercise - Integrate Azure Spatial Anchors

  • 4 minutes

In this module, you'll learn how to use Azure Spatial Anchors. You'll store the location of a Tracked Object as an Azure Spatial Anchor. Once you query for the anchor, an arrow will appear to guide you toward the location.

Understand Azure Spatial Anchors

Azure Spatial Anchors is part of the Azure Cloud Services family and is used to save anchor locations. The saved anchor locations can be retrieved based on the anchor ID from the cloud. This anchor location can be shared and accessed by multi-platform devices like HoloLens, iOS, and Android devices.

Learn more about Azure Spatial Anchors.

Prepare Azure Spatial Anchors

Before you can start, you have to create a spatial anchor resource in your Azure portal. Learn how to make a spatial anchor resource.

Prepare the scene

In this section, you'll learn how to configure the scene and make the necessary changes.

  1. Select MixedRealityToolkit object in the Hierarchy window and use the Add Component button in the Inspector window to add the AR Anchor Manager (Script)

    Screenshot of Unity with AR AnchorManager script selected.

    Note

    When you add the AR Anchor Manager (Script) component, the AR Session Origin (Script) component is automatically added because it is required by the AR Anchor Manager (Script) component.

  2. In the Project window, navigate to Assets > MRTK.Tutorials.AzureCloudServices > Prefabs > Manager.

    Screenshot of Unity with AnchorManager prefab selected.

  3. From the Manager folder, drag and drop the prefab Anchor Manager into the scene Hierarchy.

  4. Select the Anchor Manager GameObject in the Hierarchy, and in the Inspector section, you will find the Spatial Anchor Manager (Script). Find the account ID and key field and add the credentials which you created in the earlier lesson.

    Screenshot of Unity with newly added AnchorManager prefab still selected.

  5. Now find the Scene Controller object in your scene Hierarchy and select it. You will see the Scene Controller Inspector.

    Screenshot of Unity with SceneController script component configured.

  6. The Anchor Manager field in the Scene Controller component is empty. Drag and drop the Anchor Manager from the Hierarchy in the scene into that field, then save the scene.

Build and deploy the app to your HoloLens 2

Note

Building and testing on HoloLens 2 is not mandatory. You can test on the HoloLens 2 Emulator if you don't have a HoloLens device. You can purchase devices at HoloLens.com.

Azure Spatial Anchors can't run in Unity, so to test the Azure Spatial Anchors functionality, you need to deploy the project to your device.

Tip

For a reminder on how to build and deploy your Unity project to HoloLens 2, you can refer to the Building your application to your HoloLens 2 instructions.

Run the app on your HoloLens 2 and follow the in-app instructions

Note

Building and testing on HoloLens 2 is not mandatory. You can test on the HoloLens 2 Emulator if you don't have a HoloLens device. You can purchase devices at HoloLens.com.

Create an anchor to store a location

In this section, you will save the object location.

  1. Run the application and select Set Object in the main menu.

  2. Enter the Name of the object you want to save and select Set Object to continue. To add more information about the object, select the Image, then describe the object.

  3. To save the location, select Save Location

  4. You will see an anchor pointer that you can move and place on the location you want to save. After that, you will get a confirmation popup. If you want to confirm and save the location, select Yes; otherwise, you can change the location by selecting No and selecting the location again.

  5. Once you confirm the location by selecting Yes, the location and the Anchor ID will be saved in Azure Cloud Storage. Once it is saved, you will see the Object tag in the anchor with the object's name.

Query for finding an anchor location

  1. Once after you successfully save the anchor location, you can find the anchor location by selecting Search Object in the main menu.

  2. After selecting Search Object, enter the name of the object for which you wish to search in the pop-up window.

  3. Select Search Object. If the object was saved previously and is found in the database, you will get the object card with all the details of the object.

  4. Select Show Location to find the object. The system will query the object address from the cloud storage.

  5. After successfully retrieving the location, an arrow will direct you towards the location of the object. Follow the arrow until you find the location of the object.

  6. Once you find the object, the object name will appear at the top, and the arrow mark will disappear. Select the object tag to see the details of the object.