Let’s be honest, compared to the first generation of virtual reality tech, which has you strapping a screen to the front of your face, Microsoft’s HoloLens is far closer to Hollywood’s depiction of futuristic computing. The cable free headset beams images onto lenses, overlaying them in a restricted field of view onto the environment in 3D space and letting you interact via hand gestures.
At Microsoft’s Build 2016 conference, Microsoft announced that the first wave of HoloLens headsetswould be shipping to developers as of today, with each headset priced at $3,000.
They demoed Skype using the headset – it will show the other person a view of what’s in front of you – as well as showing uses in education, with NASA and the Destination Mars exhibit and with . However, examples of its use in games have been quite limited, with the Minecraft demo from last year’s E3 a particular highlight. Even so, games for HoloLens are a distinct possibility, as the technology evolves.
Dazbobaby
Done properly and not handled as a propriety closed software eco-system, this A.R. hardware could set a new standard.
Or it could just fall flat
TSBonyman
I can see plenty of practical uses for it in the field of design and engineering etc, but not much gaming potential except maybe something for the operator to twiddle with during downtime. Whereas VR seems to be a great fit for the entertainment industry, i can’t see the same mass-market appeal in AR , not yet at least but it’s early days yet.
Eagle_CFC
The Minecraft demo at E3 was immense, we’ll see.
The biggest downside to this tech for me (like all potentially truly special new tech) is price and time from hitting shelves.
It could be extraordinary.