What is SkySpaces?
SkySpaces is a gallery and manager for custom virtual reality home environments, for Windows Mixed Reality VR headsets.
What do I need to use SkySpaces?
You’ll need a computer running Windows 10 version 1803 (April 2018 Update) or later, and a Windows Mixed Reality virtual reality headset (such as the Samsung Odyssey, HP Reverb, and models by Acer, Lenovo, Asus, and Dell).
How do I install and use SkySpaces?
SkySpaces has a gallery of custom environments, and it’s really easy to use:
- Download and install the SkySpaces app from the website (skyspaces.app)
- Open the SkySpaces app (via the desktop shortcut or your Start menu)
- The app may take a few seconds to load, especially on slower PCs
- Take a look through the environments in the SkySpaces gallery, and tap “Install” on any you like
- Once an environment is installed, you can uninstall it by just tapping the Uninstall button
- Open the Mixed Reality Portal (or if it was already open, close and re-open it)
- Press the Start button, and in the Start menu, tap on the “Places” button at the top right
- The Places menu will include Microsoft’s two default environments (Cliff House and Sky Loft), along with any environments you’ve installed through SkySpaces
- Tap on the environment you’d like to explore
- A 3D launcher object will appear in front of you – tap on it to go to your selected environment
- WMR will open in whatever the last-selected environment was, so if you’d like to return to the Cliff House or any other environment, repeat steps 5-8
How do I update the SkySpaces app or environments I’ve installed?
SkySpaces includes a built-in auto-updater that will update the app to the latest version when it first opens.
The app also checks to see if any of your already-installed environments have updates available in the SkySpaces gallery. When you click on the gallery profile for an environment that you have installed, the Install / Uninstall button will instead show “Update” if an update is available. Click on that to get the latest version.
What is SkySpaces Roulette?
SkySpaces Roulette is a feature that randomly chooses a VR environment for you (from among all those installed on your PC).
To use it, tap the “Roulette” button in the upper right corner of the SkySpaces app. It should turn purple.
Then open the Mixed Reality Portal, and once you’re in VR, open the Start menu, tap on “Places” in the top-right, and select “SkySpaces Roulette.” Once the 3D object appears in front of you, select it to jump into your new environment.
The Roulette environment will change every time you start the SkySpaces app. If you want to manually rotate it, disable and re-enable Roulette (by tapping on the Roulette button once to disable, and then another time to re-enable).
What does the “Advanced” button do?
The SkySpaces app has an Advanced tab, accessible via the toggle button in the upper right corner.
The Advanced tab gives a list of all environments currently installed on your PC – whether installed via SkySpaces or otherwise – and lets you delete them or add new ones manually.
This makes it easy to “sideload” environments, such as for testing purposes when designing a new environment.
How can I create a new environment and submit it to SkySpaces?
We’d love to have lots of additional environments in the gallery! Windows Mixed Reality uses the GLTF format for 3D environments, with a number of parameters (e.g., compiled into one GLB file, must be <256 MB, <10,000 triangles, etc.).
See these two Microsoft pages on how to create your own environments:
- Intro: Microsoft | Design your own immersive environments
- Advanced: Microsoft | Create 3D models for use in the home
After generating a GLB file, test it by installing the GLB on your PC using the Advanced tab in SkySpaces. Once the environment is working smoothly, submit it to SkySpaces, along with a description and screenshot, at http://www.skyspaces.app/submit.
Will SkySpaces work with the Oculus Rift / Quest, HTC Vive, or Valve Index?
As of now, SkySpaces is built to work with Windows Mixed Reality headsets. We’ll explore other platforms in the near future – let us know if you’d like that!
When I try to install SkySpaces, I get an error saying “ShellExecuteEx failed; code 299. Only part of a ReadProcessMemory of WriteProcessMemory was completed” or an alert from AVG Antivirus saying “This file might be dangerous.”
The SkySpaces installer is packaged with Inno Setup, which is the same system Microsoft uses for Visual Studio Code, among other things.
AVG antivirus seems to showing false positives for lots of other Inno Setup installers and is the cause of the code 299 error. You can either consult AVG support / online communities to see if AVG can fix their issue, or alternatively temporarily disable AVG, run the SkySpaces installer, then re-activate AVG.
I have suggestions, feature ideas, comments, or am experiencing issues not covered above.
Reach out to us at our Contact page!