Loci Memory Palace

We are proud to announce a mixed reality headset version of our Loci product, called Loci Memory Palace.

Get Loci for PC/MR on Windows Store
PC/MR-HMD

Loci lets you link your ideas in augmented or virtual reality, improving recall and links (associations) in your mind.  It is an interactive 3D mind map in mixed reality.  It runs on Windows Mixed Reality headsets with your Windows 10 PC.

In version 2018.8.1, we have added initial capability to import MindManager, Freemind/FreePlane, and GraphML files.   You can say “load graph” or press Ctrl-L on the keyboard and select .mmap, .mm, or .graphml files for import, along with .loci files now.  The GraphML importer supports nodes and edges, but does not yet support hyper-edges or ports.

It is available for download on the Windows Store from Microsoft here.

Click this link for info on the Windows 10 mixed reality home.

The headsets are available from HP, Lenovo, Dell, Samsung, Acer and others listed below, for an average of about $300 for a headset.  These mixed reality headsets use cameras to sense your surrounding area and position you in a room from the inside out, requiring much less setup than most VR headsets.

We provide a virtual reality location for your ideas and thoughts called the Memory Palace, so you can use the method of loci with immersive virtual reality mind maps.

Updated Voice and Gaze Commands

We updated the set of commands available in the mixed reality memory palace version to reflect capabilities available in that version, the new picture showing commands is below.

Usage in head set with controllers

Use your hand controllers to jump to locations in the Memory Palace, look at a location on the floor and your cursor will follow, then press forward on the controller joy stick to jump to that location.

Use the voice command “add node” to place nodes in the palace rooms.  Put in several nodes, one for each thought, then look look at the first node and say “link this”, then look at the next node so the cursor is on it, and say “to that”, and you will see a link appear between them.    Gaze at one of the nodes to put the cursor on it, and say “select” to move the node, and the links will update with the node.  You are building a mind map graph where the nodes have 3D locations in the memory palace.

Requirements

This version requires Windows 10 Creator’s build, a compatible Mixed Reality Head Mount Display and Controllers, and ideally a graphics card such as NVidia 1060.  Most commands use gaze and voice, but moving around in the MR scene is done with the Controllers similar to the way you move and rotate in the Cliff House starting scene.  Controllers are usually sold with Mixed Reality headsets.

Improvements

We added mind map and graph imports.  Also, with the Creator version of Windows 10, the Load and Save File Picker has better functionality, you can now change the name of the saved file, and both “load graph” and “save graph” come up more reliably with a file picker.  Evidently these bugs were fixed in the required separate Onedrive Windows File Picker service.

Known Issues

The first time you run Loci Memory Palace, it will start slowing as the operating system optimizes it for later loads, and you should run it until it shows a dialog box asking to allow voice input, use controller to select “yes” or say “yes”, then you will see the memory palace scene, and then you should exit to the Windows cliff house (HoloShell) by saying “go to start”, then look at the Loci window and say “select” to return back to Loci.

By doing this the Microsoft voice recognition service will work correctly, it seems to provide a reset for it to work after that point.  We are still tracking this one down, as it did not happen in earlier versions of Loci.  Also, it will be necessary to turn speech services on in your settings, see the fix here.

The HoloShell / Cortona reserved voice command word “select” is not always available while running our app for some reason.  It is the default Windows 10 way to select nodes, by gazing so the cursor is on the node and then saying “select” to pick or place a node.  Alternatively you can try our voice commands “pick node” and “place node” when moving nodes and select is not available.

Fix Cortana Take a Video

Cortana Camera Error at Desktop

I was trying to make a video of using the Loci system to share with others, and experienced an issue with the Cortana command “Hey Cortana: Take a video” raising the message “Sorry, can’t record right now” in the Mixed Reality Portal while using the VR headset.

When I was using the Mixed Reality Portal in the HoloShell with a Lenovo Explorer headset, Cortana responded with “Sorry, can’t record right now” which was not followed up with any information on the source or cause of the issue.  I went online to find solutions and, based on what I found, I changed the privacy settings for the camera, uninstalled/reinstalled the camera driver and the Mixed Reality Portal, all without any luck.

In case you want to know how to take a picture of your mixed reality headset or record a video, click here.

I decided to see if Cortana could open the camera app from the desktop using the same Cortana command, “Hey Cortana: Take a video”, as a desktop user. When I did so Cortana attempted to open the Camera app but then Camera presented a black-screen message with the following text:

Close other apps
It looks like another app is using the camera already.
If you need it, here is the error code:
0xA00F4288<AllCamerasAreReserved>

Cortana Camera Error at Desktop
Cortana Camera Error at Desktop

I reached out to Microsoft support, and the support agent said that it looked like Cortana itself was corrupted and that it could be resolved with a sideload install of Windows 10 to correct the problem.  I performed the recommended install version and it solved the problem. The name of the file was ‘Win10_1803_English_x64.iso ‘.  The Windows 10 version that resolved the issue was:

Edition: Windows 10 Pro
Version: 1803
OS Build: 17134.1

Fix MR PC Disk Usage

As you walk around your Mixed Reality, running on your PC with your Immersed Head Mount Display (IHMD) you may tell yourself, “This is not my beautiful house!” because your souped up PC may be running really slow.  Mixed reality requires a lot of compute and resource capability.

For general troubleshooting information on getting mixed reality going on your PC, see the Microsoft site here.

One thing to fix is disk usage.   There are at least four culprits that monitor what you do for overall optimization and may get in your way (link and overview):

  • Microsoft Compatibility Appraiser
  • Microsoft Compatibility Telemetry
  • Microsoft SuperFetch
  • HP Touchpoint Analytics

To run the msc controls below, press Win+R on your keyboard, and type in the *.msc command for each.

Use taskschd.msc Task Scheduler to disable the MS Compatibility Appraiser ( compattelrunner.exe) as shown in image below.

Use gpedit.msc group policy editor to disable the MS Compatibility Telemetry as shown in image below.

Use services.msc to stop or disable SuperFetch as shown in the image below.

Use services.msc to stop or disable TouchPointAnalytics as shown in the image below.  You can then uninstall HP TouchPointAnalytics using Win-R to run appwiz.cpl and search for it to uninstall.  For more details click this link.

Fix Voice Commands

For Loci and Loci Memory Palace, there is heavy use of voice commands to enter information, and there can be problems with Windows settings for speech services that should be changed.

With more recent releases of Windows 10 such as Creator’s Update RS4, you now need to change privacy settings to allow dictation mode, which is what we use to name and describe nodes in the Loci mind map software.

The featured image for this post shows Settings : Privacy : Speech, inking, & typing settings when they are turned off, which will cause problems for Windows Immersed Head Sets (Mixed Reality Headsets).

You need to turn on speech services and typing suggestions fix missing speech services and use Loci properly.

The image below shows the settings in their proper configuration.