Reflection on HoloLabs' 11th Anniversary

Hololabs started in 2011 with the goal of making augmented reality (AR) more accessible to anyone with a mobile phone. We were really excited about the technology and its uses in creative applications. We launched a kickstarter campaign and eventually developed the “AR fun kit” called Farrago that let players capture photos and easily combine them into AR creations to share on social media with their friends. I think this concept was a bit too early, mostly because the technology still had a ways to go to be really robust, but it’s funny that AR filters have become a recent trend in social media creation. I guess we were onto something!

Now Hololabs is an internationally renowned technology studio, specializing in mixed reality game development. We develop our own products that capitalize on emerging technologies like AR, VR, and location-based media, and also provide technical solutions to bigger firms working in these areas. We’re a company that is always eager to play with the newest toys and pride ourselves in becoming experts in the latest of entertainment technologies.

Hololabs has grown to almost 20 employees and has several contractors who help on different projects. We have recently started to work on several parallel projects at a time, which has proven difficult but we’re starting to get the hang of being a bigger company. We all still want to be “indie” and work on fun, creative projects, which is part of our DNA, and will hopefully stay that way in the future.

We’ve been really fortunate to work with and learn from some amazing partners over the years. From big theme park projects with Universal Studios, Holovis International, and DreamCraft Attractions, to more artistic collaborations with Kid Koala, the Victoria Film Festival, the National Film Board of Canada, and the Society for Arts & Technology.

Each project we’ve worked on has brought new challenges and has taught us a great deal about interactive entertainment. Some highlights include working with Kid Koala and bboy / animator Jon Jon on the breakdance game Floor Kids, which won several awards and was eventually ported to almost every major console. The intersection of gaming, storytelling, music, and dance was very exciting to work on, and having experts in each domain come together on such a project was very fun.

More recently, we’ve taken that cross-disciplinary approach to working on theme park projects and have learned how to make interactive digital media blend more seamlessly with the physical environment. Working with experts in ride systems, special effects, and physical showsets has been very interesting, and we’ve been fortunate to work on exciting projects like the newest Mario Kart ride at Universal Studios. This work earned the project a THEA Award for Outstanding Achievement in Technical Innovation :)

Sky Haven will be coming out soon and will offer a new type of alternate reality experience that we’re eager to reveal to everyone. We’ve taken the best features from location-based games like Pokémon GO and crossed them with highly-engaging merge puzzle mechanics (eg, Merge Mansion). The game will feature some really neat AR technology, letting players reveal a new world in the skies above them, and the story of how these sky creatures were discovered offers exciting storytelling potential.

As players join and become members of the secret agency striving to protect these creatures, we may start to discover some ulterior motives. Perhaps this agency is not all that good? Perhaps they are secretly trying to exploit this discovery? I think we’re going to have a lot of fun discovering the world of Sky Haven together and uncovering the hidden realities within.

Mike Wozniewski, founder and president of Hololabs