Halo 5: Guardians E3 Hololens Experience

Centerpiece of the experience, the holotank.

The Halo 5: Guardians E3 HoloLens Experience was an experience at Electronic Entertainment Expo 2015 showcasing the new Halo 5: Guardians multiplayer mode, Warzone, with Microsoft HoloLens technology.

Plot summary

Set on the UNSC Infinity, Spartan-IVs Gabriel Thorne, Anthony Madsen, Tedra Grant, Naiya Ray, Joel Thomas, Jared Miller, and Robert Dalton are guided through a hallway where they could look into hangar bay 4A and 5B, until they arrive in the Simulation Briefing Room containing an HBT-215 Holographic Imaging Table.

On the holotank, Spartan Commander Sarah Palmer summarizes the Warzone simulation, explaining its use in training and that the simulation they are about to experience is set on Alluvion using historical records of the planet. Once Palmer had finishes explaining, she tells the Spartans to collect the comm chips that she loaded with additional information and to head into the Warzone simulation room.

Experience description

The experience served twelve attendees split into two groups of six. The attendees are guided through a set designed to appear as if it were aboard the UNSC Infinity, using HoloLens technology to help enhance the experience. The attendees were guided though a hallway and encouraged to look toward one of the walls, where the HoloLens would simulate a window to a hangar. From here, the attendees were led to the centerpiece of the experience: a room with a central holotank. Via the holotank, Sarah Palmer talks about Warzone and the simulation "Escape from ARC" that the attendees will participate in at the end of the experience. She describes the enemies they will face, how to play, and to pick up a USB drive containing content related to the experience and Halo 5: Guardians. After Sarah Palmer had finished talking, attendees were guided to a room with twelve Xbox One consoles where they would play a match of Warzone.

Transcript and full walkthrough

The E3 HoloLens Experience on Vimeo.

The E3 HoloLens Experience on Vimeo.Animations and audio of the Experience

Twelve attendees enter through a door and enter "FR-2" (Fitting Room 2). Attendees put on HoloLens headsets with the assistance of site staff before being guided through a hallway with "Objective" markers.

PA: "Please follow the objective marker to your destination."

Attendees are then split into two groups; one group goes to "SBR-A" (Simulation Briefing Room A), and the other goes to "SBR-B" (Simulation Briefing Room B) with identical experiences aside from decals on walls noting the room designations.

As the attendees near the holotable at the center of the room, they can look out a window into the UNSC Infinity's hangars.

Hangar Bay: (Unintelligible)

When all attendees reach the holotable.

PA: "Please wait for the briefing to begin."

A hologram of the UNSC Infinity appears giving information about the ship.

A hologram of a UNSC logo appears and begins to spin. The holotable then displays that a transmission is incoming before a holographic avatar Sarah Palmer appears on the table.

Palmer: "Welcome aboard the UNSC Infinity, I am Spartan Commander Sarah Palmer, and you, well you're some of the lucky few who get to take the new Warzone simulation for a test drive. Warzone will test your skill and your teamwork on a battleground that's bigger than anything you've ever experience in the War Games before. This briefing will familiarize you with the rules of Warzone, and give you the vital knowledge needed to succeed. So listen up, and watch close."

The planet Alluvion appears, with the phrases "Warzone" and "Historical Hardlight Simulation Active" behind it.

Palmer: "Warzone is a hardlight training simulation that recreates battlegrounds from historical engagements. Today's simulation takes place on the planet before you.

A location on the planet is highlighted before becoming centered on the holotable.

Palmer: "Your battleground is located here in the northern hemisphere."

The planet vanishes as structures from Escape from ARC are shown

Palmer: "This is a closeup of the battleground, take a few moments to look at each of the structures, lean in and view each of the buildings, study their spatial relationship to one another."

A location on the planet is highlighted before becoming centered on the holotable, as structures from Escape from ARC are shown

Palmer: "You'll need to have intimate knowledge of this area if you wanna be successful from the very start of the simulation. Now that you're familiar with the battle area, let's discuss how to play."

Pelicans appear over the holographic representation of Escape from ARC, as the hologram shows visuals pertaining to Palmer's dialogue.

Palmer: "In Warzone, two teams of twelve Spartans compete to be the first to earn 1,000 points. You will be deployed by Pelican into the designated area on the map."

A point on the map is highlighted.

Palmer: "I'm enhancing Hex 29A to get a closer look."

A base is highlighted and focused on.

Palmer: "Once boots are on the ground, your first order of business is to secure your home base. These facilities are in the hands of AI controlled enemies. Kill anything that moves as quickly as possible. Once you've secured your home base, you can take to the field. Let's return to map overview."

The map appears focusing on the three objectives on the map.

Palmer: "There are three objective facilities on any Warzone map that are key to victory. Capturing and holding these locations increases your team's score over time."

The map then highlights another spot on the map.

Palmer: "Okay, now let's look at the garage located at Hex 13E."

A garage is zoomed into, as Palmer describes things, it pops up.

Palmer: "Level up and earn energy by eliminating enemies and holding the objective facilities. Taking control of any objective facility grants access to that facilities station. Inside each of the objective facilities, you'll find a requisition station. Requisition stations are where you can acquire new weapons and vehicles during the match."

The map zooms out again

Palmer: "There are req stations located inside each structure on the map. I'm marking them now. Take a few moments and see if you can identify each one. Grab the biggest guns you can from req stations, 'cause you're gonna need 'em against what I'm about to show you next."

An animation of an Elder Hunter appears and its weak spot on its back is identified.

Palmer: "AI-controlled High Value Targets lurk around the battlefield, just waiting to ruin your day. This is an Elder Hunter; he's extremely strong against a frontal assault. He'll charge at close range and use his plasma cannon at a distance. His only weak spot is his back, so try to get behind him. Hunters are tough and usually come in pairs, but they are nothing compared to Forerunner Phaetons."

The Elder Hunter vanishes and is replaced by the Phaeton.

Palmer: "We haven't seen many of these aircraft in the wild yet, but we've encountered enough to know Phaetons are quick and deadly. I put one in the simulation today, because I want you to be familiar with it if the day comes that you meet the real deal. Eliminating targets like these grant values that immediately impact your team's score, but all High Value Targets in Warzone are very tough, so make sure to bring your friends if you wanna take them down."

The map appears again, with indicators on it.

Palmer: "I'm marking areas on the map where you should expect to encounter these targets. Take a moment to commit these locations to memory."

The map vanishes, and recap visual appear

Palmer: "Now you have the intel to succeed in Warzone. Here's a quick recap. Warzone is 12 v 12, and you need a thousand points to win. Clear your base first; capture objective facilities; get weapons and vehicles at req stations; take out enemy AI to boost score; and to win the game instantly destroy the enemy core."

Palmer appears again.

Palmer: "Alright Spartans let's get you into the Warzone so you can try it out for yourselves. I've dropped some additional info on the comm chips in front of you. Grab those chips in your way out the door for later review. Dismissed."

The UNSC Logo returns with the text "Ending Transmission". Attendees are then directed to take the com chip.

PA (repeating): "All Spartans report to the Warzone simulation room."

Attendees are then lead into "GR-1" (Gaming Room 1) where they would play a match of Warzone on twelve Xbox One consoles set up for them.

USB memory stick contents

• Season 1 of Hunt the Truth
• The All Hail trailer
• The Cost trailer
• The Bullet trailer
• HoloLens videos of the Warzone and Base intros
• HoloLens images of Sarah Palmer and the UNSC Infinity as they appear in the experience

Production notes

• 343 Industries thought for years on how to get total immersion on the E3 floor, and worked with the marketing teams to bring the experience to E3.
• Several pieces of concept art were created by Scribble Pad Studios artist James Paick for the experience. The senior artist on the project, Charlie Baker, worked on several core elements of the experience, including the globe of Alluvion where considerable time was spent tuning and animating its hex fade. According to Baker, the art team would wear the HoloLens headset while tuning the globe. Timothy D. Kviz worked on several animations for the holotable, with En Kelly working with the MR HoloLens team shooting motion capture for Spartan Commander Sarah Palmer. Todd Omotani was the principal design director.

• The company Envy Create built the set for the experience.

Gallery

Concept art

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  Concept art of a room in the experience, presumably the HoloLens fitting room.

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  Concept art of the hallway leading to the simulation briefing room. Note the window looking to the hangar bay.

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  More concept art of the hallway leading to the simulation briefing room.

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  Concept art of the holotank.

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  More concept art of the holotank.

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  More concept art of the holotank.

Renders

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  An early render of the planet Alluvion.

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  The finalized render of the planet Alluvion.

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  A Spartan that was used duting development for the experience.

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  A after and before comparison of the hanger in the experience.

Set work

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  The simulation briefing room under construction.

Set

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  The door leading to the experience.

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  The fitting room where attendees received the HoloLens headset.

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  Another look at the fitting room where attendees received the HoloLens headset.

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  Another look at the fitting room where attendees received the HoloLens headset.

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  A screen featuring the UNSC Infinity in the fitting room.

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  A wall with decals tied to the experience on it.

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  The hallway to the simulation briefing room.

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  The wall where a window looking into the hangar bay was projected.

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  A look into the second hallway looking into another hangar.

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  The holotank at the center of the simulation briefing room.

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  A view of the top of the holotank.

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  Another view of the top of the holotank.

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  The room where attendees would play Warzone.

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  Another look at the room where attendees would play Warzone.

HoloLens holograms

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  The objective marker showing attendees where to go.

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  The projection of the window looking into the hangar bay.

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  A clear look of the hanger.

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  The incoming transmission with UNSC logo.

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  The planet of Alluvion.

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  An overall representation of the map Escape from ARC.

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  Pelicans flying over the map.

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  A hologram of the UNSC Infinity.

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  A hologram representing Red Team.

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  A hologram of Alluvion.

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  A hologram of an Elder Hunter.

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  A hologram of a Phaeton.

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  A hologram of Palmer with the comm chip data near the end of the experience.

Miscellaneous

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  A staff member dressed as a UNSC scientist as they explain how to use the HoloLens.

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  The lanyard pass needed to gain access to the experience.

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  The memory stick received by attendees at the end of the experience.