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Microsoft HoloLens
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  • Vitaliy - what is your take on this preview? Any opinions - seems to follow idea of MAGIC LEAP pretty closely (very guarded secret that it is)

  • This will be a pretty big deal for M$ if they can deliver both fidelity and stability on the display side. I see this type of immersive technology as being much more practical than VR for use in daily activities. The major downside to this is the headset size and weight, but as that diminishes I think the tech will flourish.

  • @Tron

    Only really practical use of headset now is watching movies (especially 3D).

    Just get Sony latest headset, it has wireless non compressed video transmission and battery integrated into small headset module..

    Initially such claims, like one by Microsoft seems very attractive, but finally it could end as their table. Mostly limited demoes in rich corporations.

  • All these paid actors are frantically telling us how great this is. And yet not a single concrete example how it will improve anyone's life. Because it won't. It's a toy- that's all it will ever be.

    What is the problem it's trying to solve? Other than making simple things more complicated. Everything it's shown doing can be done more cheaply and easily with existing technology. Like a pen and paper.

  • Actually, I think this has the potential to become an incredible TelePresence Educational and Assistance tool.

  • @chauncy I think the product video is pretty self explanatory, it simply lends another perspective to how we see things. Just because you choose to see things the same way you always have doesn't mean this is of no value to others. Ask yourself this question... who's a more effective fighter pilot - the one using a HUD or the guy staring at a 2" wide radar screen buried in front of his legs?

    "What is the problem it's trying to solve? Other than making simple things more complicated. Everything it's shown doing can be done more cheaply and easily with existing technology. Like a pen and paper."

    Do you sketch up a 3D model on a piece of paper and fax them over to your clients for their approval? Is that really how we work in this century?

  • It will never replace a HUD because that was built for one purpose. As far as the 3dmodel, I see no benefit this has over 3dmodeling software that's already doing this, and will do it better than this ever can. It's not a problem solving device, it's as useless as 3d film is, more technology that works worse.

    Paper and pencil is an example of something that solves a multitude of issues. Has HD beyond any screen, a tactile feel that will never be approached, never runs out of batteries. It's perfect in its simplicity. And cheap, and available to everyone, not an elitist toy that will be as costly as this thing.

    Even if it did work and it won't- the entire success will be based on applications written by other companies. No one will want to invest their resources developing for it, because there will be no money at the end. Technology has to make sense, not just show off. Just because a thing can be done doesn't mean it should be.

  • Are you really insisting that there's no real-world use case for augmented reality?

    Scenario: Purchase a product requiring assembly. Download manual into headset. Headset guides user through placing pieces in the right places and warns them of mistakes being made. Extended scenario if you want a business use case: Training people to perform real-world jobs.

    Scenario: Real-time translation of signs in another language while traveling. Already possible with some smartphone applications. Even better if translation doesn't require holding a phone around in front of the user's face.

    Scenario: Identification of objects in the real world, in particular face recognition. Keep a log of everybody met at a party, allow the user to enter notes about them after the fact, have the notes float next to the person the next time they are encountered.

  • If this works as it is portrayed in the videos then it certainly does have a lot of potential for any sort of 3-D CAD work and if you can "synch" several of these then collaborative design and the presentation of 3-D models seems like it would be enough to at least create a niche market. Beyond that I'm not sure if people really want to be connected all of the time or where the threshold for augmented reality lies but I certainly won't discount the possibility of some creative people turning this into an exceptional entertainment device - it might only be a toy but if this were at the heart of the next X-Box it would be a very exciting toy.

  • No matter how fun it can be to use the head-masks displays the people who are using those are going to be poke fun at: http://uk.businessinsider.com/microsoft-hololens-tested-2015-1 http://whiteguyswearinoculusrifts.tumblr.com/

  • The year is 2018. A drone delivery whizzes above the neighborhood, softly dropping a box onto a woman's front porch. The woman carries her goods to the bathroom, powers up her AR headset and Skypes the barcode address engraved on the loaner channellocks. An "expert plumber" gives a friendly greeting from his workshop across town and commences instructing her on the ways of proper drain cleaning.

    With nary a whimper, the epidemic of "plumber-crack" has finally been eliminated. Who says AR can't solve real problems?