Virtual HAT for Raspberry Pi

[AndyHerb]

Hi all,
Not sure whether this is the right place to post this question, but I've just attended Microsoft Build 2015 where they showed off some fantastic new toys, including their Windows 10 Virtual Shield for Arduino (https://ms-iot.github.io/content/win10/SetupWVSA.htm). In short, it's a way of using the hardware in a Windows 10 device to interface with an Arduino instead of purchasing multiple shields. There was a great couple of demos; one where they used the speech recognition on the phone to control an Arduino output, and a second where they used the onboard camera and software to render an image on a bunch of LED strips.
I was wondering whether anyone knew if it would/will be possible to obtain the same functionality using the Pi - a kind of virtual HAT, essentially allowing the functionality of the Windows 10 phone to interact with Windows 10 IoT Core running on the Pi?

Thanks in advance,
Andy

[panik]

People have been using their Android/iOS/Windows phone to send data back and forth to/from the Pi, which essentially makes the phone a "virtual shield" for the Pi (or the other way around, if you will).

You already could, with or without Windows 10 IoT on the Pi. Raspbian works great too. Over bluetooth and/or TCP/IP.

To answer your question: Yes, and it's neat!

[AndyHerb]

Thanks for the reply Panik - I guess I'd never thought of that, and was looking for a one-for-one simple replacement instead. I'll have look into it, although I still think a 'Virtual HAT' would be awesome & easy to use