HoloCanvas

Inspiration

Remote collaboration today is still limited by flat screens, mouse-driven tools, and disconnected workflows. Sketching ideas, teaching concepts, or reviewing designs often loses clarity when reduced to video calls and static whiteboards.

HoloCanvas was inspired by a simple question: What if collaboration felt as natural as standing around the same board, using a real pen, even when people are miles apart? The precision of Logitech MX Ink made it possible to rethink collaboration as a pen-first, spatial experience rather than another virtual screen.

What HoloCanvas Does

HoloCanvas is a pen-first mixed-reality workspace where users use Logitech MX Ink to sketch, annotate, and collaborate on shared 2D and 3D canvases in real time.

Users can:

Write and draw naturally in mid-air or on floating boards
Annotate 3D objects and spatial diagrams
Collaborate live with remote participants in the same mixed-reality workspace
Export sessions as diagrams, notes, or visual references for use outside XR

The focus is on clarity, speed, and natural interaction rather than complex menus or controller-heavy input.

How We Built It

HoloCanvas is designed as a Mixed Reality application for Meta Quest, built using:

Logitech MX Ink SDK for precise stylus input (pose, pressure, and interaction events)
Meta XR SDK for mixed-reality passthrough, spatial anchoring, and hand tracking
A modular interaction system that supports both 2D whiteboards and 3D object annotation
A real-time collaboration layer to synchronize ink strokes, cursors, and objects between users

The architecture separates device input, interaction logic, and collaboration services, making the system extensible across different use cases such as education, design reviews, and training.

Challenges We Faced

One of the main challenges was designing interactions that feel intuitive without overwhelming users. In mixed reality, too many tools or UI elements quickly break immersion.

We addressed this by:

Prioritizing pen-first interactions over menus
Keeping the interface minimal and context-aware
Designing workflows that work even for first-time XR users

Another challenge was ensuring collaboration felt smooth and responsive, which required careful handling of real-time synchronization and visual feedback.

What We Learned

Building HoloCanvas reinforced that mixed reality works best when it amplifies familiar human behaviors instead of replacing them. Writing, pointing, and sketching are universal skills, and MX Ink enables these actions to translate naturally into spatial computing.

We learned that the real power of mixed reality lies not in complexity, but in making collaboration feel effortless, human, and shared.

What’s Next

HoloCanvas is designed as a foundation that can expand into focused verticals such as education, engineering design reviews, and technical training. Future iterations will introduce guided templates, session recording, and deeper integrations with existing productivity tools.

Our goal is to help redefine how people think, teach, and collaborate in mixed reality using Logitech’s ecosystem.