Microsoft HoloLens: one small step for man, one giant leap for virtuality
Just few days after Google has dropped its Glass on the shelfs of projects X, Microsoft has invited journalists to explore Mars through a headset that displays virtual contents in real life: the HoloLens.
Yes “holo” as in holograms. But not a little sun icon that tells you it’s nice out here. No, graphical data megabytes that hug the corners of reality. Ecstasy on the geek planet since the announcement by Microsoft on 21 January. We can award the Oscar of best kept secret to Microsoft which we had found breathless lately…
We can even grant to Microsoft to use the word hologram, which is not. It’s almost better, because the system allows to manipulate virtual elements. R2D2 and his projector goes retired, Hololens invites us to more contemporary references such as Dennō Coil, a Japanese animated which envision a world revolutionized by augmented reality.
“Dennō Coil” Japanese cartoon where virtual reality is everywhere. © DRBut should we really talk about a revolution? In the field of virtual reality, we already knew how to print a QR code, drop the paper on the table and, using an application, make appear a dragon. It is the exploitation of the light field, which, coupled with position sensors, makes all the magic of the system developed by Microsoft.
After all, Microsoft was already precursor with Kinect. Alex Kipman, the head of Hololens project was also heading the Project Natale that foreshadowed the release of the Kinect. Except that for simple cost reasons, the consumer technology was much more bland than its prototype. Should we expect a similar scenario?
Subtle variant, HoloLens was not presented as an accessory to the Xbox, the home gaming system, but rather as an interface of the future with a collaborative purpose, featuring active telepresence and handling prototypes in open air. For a demonstration, Microsoft has even associated with NASA to cooperate journalists on Martian soil.
HoloLens presentation by Microsoft:
Other demonstrations have shown a augmented Skype communication, a DIY session assisted by an avatar. And finally, a Minecraft-like projected in the real world to evoke still the gaming potential of the device.
The most prominent fact is that the helmet is autonomous, which can be presented as an upcoming emancipation from the traditional computer station. Finally, we are also seeing the empowerment of the avatar that can act into the real world coordinates.
But Hololens still a prototype, so do not rely on the thickness of the visuals offered by Microsoft, journalists who were able to try it, mention a thin transparent augmented reality.
Hololens has no release date but the software will be integrated with Windows 10, that is a call for contributions but also a sharp marketing operation.