Looking at the future through the glass of HoloLens

Whats in this story

HoloLens actually could be a game changer

Technology is advancing so fast, it’s becoming increasingly difficult for me to be impressed by new products. Lots of gadgets and devices have been released recently, but most feature mere incremental changes — more pixels per inch, more vivid colors, more memory or a faster processor. All of that is great, but it seems more like an evolution than a revolution. So when a new product makes me super-excited, it means we’re talking about something really special. And the Microsoft HoloLens is special indeed. MarketWatch…

A sensational vision of the PC’s future

The HoloLens isn’t a gimmick. Microsoft has clearly put a great deal of engineering work into this project. When you put on the device, which looks a lot like ski goggles, you see three-dimensional digital controls — like buttons, lines and pictures — superimposed on the world around you.  The Economic Times

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HoloLens Gets Face Wearables Right

Their solution is designed to be unique in many ways and Microsoft is doing everything they can to distance themselves from the idea of “always-on” Augmented Reality (Google Glass) or Virtual Reality (Oculus VR). Google’s Glass headset has been a flop so far and it is quite clear that Microsoft doesn’t want to be remotely associated with it. Microsoft calls their own solution “HoloLens” and they stressed projecting the digital world onto the real world using holograms. Forbes…

What is augmented reality anyway?

Even though HoloLens is new, the idea of augmented reality is certainly not. First proposed by L. Frank Baum (author of the Wizard of Oz) in his 1901 novel The Master Key, AR has a long and illustrious history, at least in theory. But what is it, exactly?

Augmented reality is a form of “mediated perception”: an AR device overlays a virtual world on the real one. It does this by taking a live video feed of the external world and then supplementing it with computer-generated sensory input. In this sense, it is unlike virtual reality, which entirely replaces the external world with a virtual one. Instead, AR embellishes the real world to make it more fun, clear or informative. From PHYS.ORG

 

It may be a little early to pass judgment, but my dev-stage experience has convinced me of one thing: there has never been anything quite like HoloLens and that is most definitely a good thing.

Rarely have I tried something that looked so bad and worked so well. HoloLens belied its development state, delivering a truly blended virtual and reality experience. Unlike Google Glass, which also uses augmented reality, the initial use cases for HoloLens are indoors. Mashable…