Microsoft’s Power BI Mobile has a new feature called Data in Space. It leverages augmented reality (AR) by building spatial anchors in the physical world and connecting Power BI data to them. Simply put, it allows users to tie their data to the physical environment they are describing.
Consider a scenario in facility management where you, as a building manager, may pin reports displaying the condition of various building regions as gathered from several sensors and data sources, such as air quality, temperature, floor occupancy, etc. When visiting that location later, the building attendant or operations team may find these reports using their Power BI Mobile app.
Using data in space allows you to connect your business data to real-world scenarios, such as facility management, manufacturing, or retail. Employees can then quickly discover and use it to make more informed decisions.
How does it work?
Microsoft BI has partnered with the Azure Spatial Anchors team to integrate Azure Spatial Anchors within the Power BI Mobile iOS application.
Thanks to Azure spatial anchoring technology, the software can comprehend environments, identify particular locations of interest, and remember those points of interest. The software may search an area to seek anchors placed there.
The company has built a cross-device experience by enabling one device to read a spatial anchor established by another device using the Azure Spatial Anchors service.
Power BI administrators must construct an Azure Spatial Anchors resource in their Azure subscription and connect it to their Power BI tenancy to enable Data in space.
The next step is to provide users access to roles that will allow them to store and look up Azure spatial anchors in the appropriate places.
Based on the position they receive from the administrator, users inside the organisation will then receive data in space experiences:
- Pin in space: The ability to create and save anchors with Power BI data
- Scan space: The ability to search and discover anchors around you
How to pin data to space
Start by picking the report you want to pin, then create the necessary state by applying slicers and selecting filters. When the desired view is prepared, open the camera, pick Data in space from the report header, and verify that the preview view matches your configuration.
The same report can be pinned several times using various filters. Let’s take the hypothetical situation where you have a single panel health report that may be sorted for several distinct panels. It may be pinned next to every panel with a certain filter applied. The app will remember the filter you used while pinning and use it again if you (or others) find it later.
Once the camera is open, you can see your perspective in the actual world, decide precisely where to position it, and resize it as needed.
How to discover anchors and data around you
Launch the camera from the app’s main screen to get started. The camera will automatically begin scanning the area around you for data if you have Data in space activated. When anchors are discovered, the report locator at the bottom of the screen will let you know, assisting you in pointing the camera in the appropriate direction.
The most recent Power BI data is displayed in the card’s preview picture, which also reveals the level of access you have to the data.
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