Gadgets : Microsoft Hololens
Gadgets : Microsoft Hololens
Microsoft stunned audiences of Wednesday's Windows 10 event by unveiling HoloLens, the company's augmented-reality headset and platform.
Not only is the tech incredibly cool, the timing couldn't be better. Coming just a week after Google announced that it was going to hit the pause button on Google Glass so that it could better refine its message, HoloLens and Windows Holographic are proof that virtual and augmented computing isn't a space being solely explored by Google and Facebook's Oculus VR.
It would be easy to start comparing Microsoft's HoloLens with Google Glass. After all, both include weird-looking computers on your face. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella even made a few comments about Google Glass in the past tense and Microsoft seems eager to capitalize on the Glass developers who might feel abandoned by Google.
Still, in a lot of very basic ways, Google Glass and Microsoft's HoloLens are not similar. The end goal of making computing more contextual and visual may be true for both, but the experience — not to mention the positioning — is vastly different.
The experiential difference
Google Glass in its original incarnation was designed to be worn all the time. It was a "smart companion" and would offer up insight and a heads-up display for things such as directions, text messages, photos and alerts.
The idea behind Glass was to put everything that usually takes place on your smartphone's notification panel directly in front of your face.
With HoloLens, the experience is different. Not only has Microsoft positioned HoloLens as something a person would only wear for short stretches of time (and based on how it looks, that's a good thing), the experience is definitely heightened around use cases and certain activities.
In the concept video, Microsoft shows off the potential of using HoloLens as a way to get augmented instructions for how to fix a pipe and as a way to visually expand a computer workstation, a la Minority Report.
In the demos Microsoft showed off on stage, a user was able to use HoloLens and Windows Holographic to create a 3D model of a drone. That model could then be sent to a 3D printer for actual production.
Meanwhile, the fact that HoloLens and Windows Holographic work not just with voice but with gestures — a la Microsoft Kinect — makes the entire concept more malleable and seem more futuristic.
It's something you can take off
Still, the biggest change between the two products is that unlike Glass, which was sold as something you wear everywhere, HoloLens is something you take off.
This could actually be incredibly important for Microsoft when it comes to how this device is positioned to the public.
Part of the problem Google Glass ran into was one of perception. Few people wanted to be a Glasshole. Fewer still wanted to be seen with other Glassholes.
By setting the expectation that HoloLens isn't something you wear all the time, Microsoft as the opportunity to morph HoloLens and Windows Holographic into an experience that you eventually want to have everywhere.
Augmented reality takes off
For the last few years, we've seen a lot of companies really double and triple down on augmented reality. HoloLens could be the first concept to really show off the massive potential of those opportunities. Even better, Microsoft might be able to sell the experience as something users and developers actually want to embrace.
We can't wait to try it.
Learn more here.
Contact Microsoft
Website | Facebook | Twitter | YouTube | Pinterest
Contact Mashable
Website | Twitter | Facebook | Pinterest | Google+
Sources : Hololens Photo | Hololens Article
Microsoft stunned audiences of Wednesday's Windows 10 event by unveiling HoloLens, the company's augmented-reality headset and platform.
Not only is the tech incredibly cool, the timing couldn't be better. Coming just a week after Google announced that it was going to hit the pause button on Google Glass so that it could better refine its message, HoloLens and Windows Holographic are proof that virtual and augmented computing isn't a space being solely explored by Google and Facebook's Oculus VR.
It would be easy to start comparing Microsoft's HoloLens with Google Glass. After all, both include weird-looking computers on your face. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella even made a few comments about Google Glass in the past tense and Microsoft seems eager to capitalize on the Glass developers who might feel abandoned by Google.
Still, in a lot of very basic ways, Google Glass and Microsoft's HoloLens are not similar. The end goal of making computing more contextual and visual may be true for both, but the experience — not to mention the positioning — is vastly different.
The experiential difference
Google Glass in its original incarnation was designed to be worn all the time. It was a "smart companion" and would offer up insight and a heads-up display for things such as directions, text messages, photos and alerts.
The idea behind Glass was to put everything that usually takes place on your smartphone's notification panel directly in front of your face.
With HoloLens, the experience is different. Not only has Microsoft positioned HoloLens as something a person would only wear for short stretches of time (and based on how it looks, that's a good thing), the experience is definitely heightened around use cases and certain activities.
In the concept video, Microsoft shows off the potential of using HoloLens as a way to get augmented instructions for how to fix a pipe and as a way to visually expand a computer workstation, a la Minority Report.
In the demos Microsoft showed off on stage, a user was able to use HoloLens and Windows Holographic to create a 3D model of a drone. That model could then be sent to a 3D printer for actual production.
Meanwhile, the fact that HoloLens and Windows Holographic work not just with voice but with gestures — a la Microsoft Kinect — makes the entire concept more malleable and seem more futuristic.
It's something you can take off
Still, the biggest change between the two products is that unlike Glass, which was sold as something you wear everywhere, HoloLens is something you take off.
This could actually be incredibly important for Microsoft when it comes to how this device is positioned to the public.
Part of the problem Google Glass ran into was one of perception. Few people wanted to be a Glasshole. Fewer still wanted to be seen with other Glassholes.
By setting the expectation that HoloLens isn't something you wear all the time, Microsoft as the opportunity to morph HoloLens and Windows Holographic into an experience that you eventually want to have everywhere.
Augmented reality takes off
For the last few years, we've seen a lot of companies really double and triple down on augmented reality. HoloLens could be the first concept to really show off the massive potential of those opportunities. Even better, Microsoft might be able to sell the experience as something users and developers actually want to embrace.
We can't wait to try it.
Learn more here.
Contact Microsoft
Website | Facebook | Twitter | YouTube | Pinterest
Contact Mashable
Website | Twitter | Facebook | Pinterest | Google+
Sources : Hololens Photo | Hololens Article
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