Are Microsoft's Hologram Glasses Cool or Not?
On Wednesday, Microsoft announced that it will dive into the virtually untapped world of holographic computing with their upcoming HoloLens. But before you go imagining Star Trek-like holodecks, where Data dresses like Sherlock Holmes to solve crime, allow us to adjust your expectations a bit. A lot more like Virtual Reality than a true hologram, it requires the user to wear a headset to see 3D "holograms" that can interact with the environment around them.
Like Google Glass Glued to a Kinect
To over-simplify it (in a way that would probably make the Microsoft engineers weep), HoloLens is essentially an Xbox Kinect glued to two Google Glasses, then fit into a pair of giant sunglasses (like the kind grandma wears after she's been to the eye doctor's). The two Google Glass-like projectors display a stereoscopic image onto the sunglass lenses, tricking the users eyes into seeing 3D images. The Kinect-like bit gives the headset spatial recognition, the images that the user sees can interact with the environment.
In this way, the images that HoloLens "projects" don't have to be floating in space, but can be "attached" to a point in real space. Imagine, HoloLens can hang a virtual calendar on your real wall! Or a 3D model you're working on can look as if it's sitting on your desk at work! Of course, no one else will see these things, so an outside observer will see you reaching out and waving your hands in the empty air. Were it not for the clunky glasses that allow all this to happen, those around you might think you've gone off your rocker as you reach out to spin a virtual globe, or pinch a virtual map.
Rebranding as a "holographic" system and avoiding any mention of "VR" was a very clever move on Microsoft's part as "virtual reality" immediately calls to mind terrible 90s films about Lawnmower Men and brings with it a certain hilariously awful stank of failure. "Holograms" sound way more exciting and current.
What Counts as a Hologram Anyway?
However, coolness aside, using that term immediately sidetracked our office discussion and we began debating what a "hologram" even is! Some of us argue that a hologram shouldn't require glasses to be seen. Think of Star Wars: Did Darth Vader need to wear special glasses to see Emperor Palaptine? No — though now that we think about it, Vader was kinda wearing special equipment. Anyway!
Others around here tried to argue, "Who cares, it's still pretty cool."
What do you say, reader? Are these holograms? Even if they're not, is it still cool? Let us know in the comments below!
As you put it:
"Umm yeah...."
You saw a prototype, not a commercial product on both counts. The O.R. has raised a metric ton of money, had two dev kits solely funded by idiot fans, was acquired by one of the biggest companies in the world and it STILL isn't one day closer to being released.
It's stuck in concept limbo, just like Sony's Version, just like Microsoft's version. If you think that even a fraction of the things shown at CES ever get put into full on production then it is YOU that are showing their ignorance. I mean just off the top of my head how about Microsoft's interactive multi-touch table, or for that matter ANY of the companies augmented reality concepts thought up over the last 15 years? Yup... never released.
I mean seriously man, saying a product is relevant and on the way just because it's showcased at CES is like saying the concept car you saw at the auto show will get released... odds are it won't.
Yeah it's because to fool the eye you'd need a quad resolution display or higher AND motion tracking AND augmented reality. All of it has to work flawlessly as well. That equates to a device that is super expensive.
This writer simply don't know anything. VR? do you know what the hell is VR? VR stand for virtual reality and Microsoft Hololens isn't VR but it is an AR. What is AR? AR stand for Augmented Reality. VR and AR has some similar but they are different.
If they put Cortana on Xbox one to interact with headset, I'm sold!!!
I can imagine all the accessories this tech will open the market too and all the 3D printer things you can make to interact with augmented reality!
FYI: a Hologram that needs to be seen through glasses is called augmented reality. If you can only see an image in the glasses and no reality then it's Virtual reality, and if you don't need glasses to see augmented reality, that's called Hologram (my opinion).
God knows MS did their share of mistakes, but I have to say since 2013 they have been doing all the right things.
Let people laugh all they want, Microsoft remains a BEAST and their corporate world ($$$$) footprint is bigger than all other competitors combined. Microsoft is also doing great things with enterprise service cloud service, competing with Oracle and even SalesForce.
Material of Science Fiction is now a reality!