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MS HoloLens

cyberheater

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Just saw this in the media briefing. It looked awesome.

The headset produces an augmented reality experience, in which virtual screens can appear in your living room and pictographs can float above your dinner table. In one moment of the presentation, Microsoft presented concept footage of Minecraft, in which the player sees the virtual world as if she's inhabiting it.

They say attendants will play a version of MineCraft using the device today. I'm very much looking forward to their impressions.

What are your thoughts?

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In several months, Microsoft will unveil its most ambitious undertaking in years, a head-mounted holographic computer called Project HoloLens. But at this point, even most people at Microsoft have never heard of it. I walk through the large atrium of Microsoft’s Studio C to meet its chief inventor, Alex Kipman.

To create Project HoloLens’ images, light particles bounce around millions of times in the so-called light engine of the device. Then the photons enter the goggles’ two lenses, where they ricochet between layers of blue, green and red glass before they reach the back of your eye. “When you get the light to be at the exact angle,” Kipman tells me, “that’s where all the magic comes in.”

http://www.wired.com/2015/01/microsoft-hands-on/

Microsoft has just revealed its next great innovation: Windows Holographic. It's an augmented reality experience that employs a headset, much like all the VR goggles that are currently rising in popularity, but Microsoft's solution adds holograms to the world around you. The HoloLens headset is described as "the most advanced holographic computer the world has ever seen." It's a self-contained computer, including a CPU, a GPU, and a dedicated holographic processor. The dark visor up front contains a see-through display, there's spatial sound so you can "hear" holograms behind you, and HoloLens also integrates a set of sensors. Though still early in its development, HoloLens will be made available within the Windows 10 timeframe.

http://www.theverge.com/2015/1/21/7867593/microsoft-announces-windows-holographic

Some more info (from the post by Anton Sugar)
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Imagine playing games that look like this:-
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gofreak

GAF's Bob Woodward
I wasn't watching the presentation, so only have read what was in the Wired hands-on article, but is there any more information on the underlying tech?

What makes it 'holo' as opposed to 'AR'?

Anyway, I guess this is what the Kinect endeavour is rolling into. It, and Google Glass, are basically what I was predicting about ten years ago, but at various different stages of maturity. However more recent developments (i.e. Kinect!) have left me a bit more skeptical about how long the road is to non-shakey computer vision applications.

Also, is this a standalone device? Any spec info if so?
 

Jigolo

Member
Looks like the first step into holograms. (Exciting!) Don't know why this is in the gaming side as I think it differs from what Oculus and Morpheus are doing.
 
Using only your finger as input seems really inefficient (going by the demo).

Otherwise, well, the tech is there - This seems to be a cross between Google Glass's "projection", Oculus' HMD form factor and Kinect's input. So there's no reason it shouldn't work.

Question is, how does it actually perform?
 

CozMick

Banned
I will buy at a good price, however the mainstream wouldn't even wear 3d glasses in front of company, what makes MS think this will work?
 
I wasn't watching the presentation, so only have read what was in the Wired hands-on article, but is there any more information on the underlying tech?

What makes it 'holo' as opposed to 'AR'?

Anyway, I guess this is what the Kinect endeavour is rolling into. It, and Google Glass, are basically what I was predicting about ten years ago, but at various different stages of maturity. However more recent developments (i.e. Kinect!) have left me a bit more skeptical about how long the road is to non-shakey computer vision applications.

Also, is this a standalone device? Any spec info if so?

Holo sounds cooler than AR?
 

QaaQer

Member
I wasn't watching the presentation, so only have read what was in the Wired hands-on article, but is there any more information on the underlying tech?

What makes it 'holo' as opposed to 'AR'?

Anyway, I guess this is what the Kinect endeavour is rolling into. It, and Google Glass, are basically what I was predicting about ten years ago, but at various different stages of maturity. However more recent developments (i.e. Kinect!) have left me a bit more skeptical about how long the road is to non-shakey computer vision applications.

Also, is this a standalone device? Any spec info if so?

I'm hoping the 'holo' means real 3d images and not stereoscopic images that we've had since the 1880s.
 

dude

dude
Except it seems to actually work, as people are using it today.

Here's WIRED's hands-on:
http://www.wired.com/2015/01/microsoft-hands-on/

To create Project HoloLens’ images, light particles bounce around millions of times in the so-called light engine of the device. Then the photons enter the goggles’ two lenses, where they ricochet between layers of blue, green and red glass before they reach the back of your eye. “When you get the light to be at the exact angle,” Kipman tells me, “that’s where all the magic comes in.”

Holy shit this is the future
 

Nzyme32

Member
Just saw this in the media briefing. It looked awesome.

They say attendants will play a version of MineCraft using the device today. I'm very much looking forward to their impressions.

What are your thoughts?

Ak38dnT.jpg

We have seen oh so many of these concept videos and stage demo's that do not live up to such demonstrations in reality. It will be good to hear the opinions of those who use it first. Regardless, AR has always been an interesting area.
 

onQ123

Member
Love it! but like with all things new it's not going to be perfect the 1st time around & it will get attacked for it's shortcomings.
 

Snakeyes

Member
It looks like a neat and useful thing for geeks, people in STEM fields and some creative professionals, but I doubt your average consumer will want to wear this on a daily basis for an extended period of time.
 

Alx

Member
I wasn't watching the presentation, so only have read what was in the Wired hands-on article, but is there any more information on the underlying tech?

Not much yet, they said they added a dedicated processor for all the "hologram" computation, in addition of the CPU and GPU, but it can be anything.
There are apparently dual-lenses camera at each corner of the headset, not sure if they are depth cameras (like Kinect) or regular cameras. I'd bet on depth.
 
When will I be able to look at my floor and play FIFA with a team of little holo-men? Because I would like to do that right now please.
 

gofreak

GAF's Bob Woodward
Not much yet, they said they added a dedicated processor for all the "hologram" computation, in addition of the CPU and GPU, but it can be anything.
There are apparently dual-lenses camera at each corner of the headset, not sure if they are depth cameras (like Kinect) or regular cameras. I'd bet on depth.

I think the 'photons bouncing around' stuff is actually Kinect-y, with two for wider fov.

I guess the 'hologram' computation silicon is like the dedicated processors on board kinect for managing that input data from the sensors.

It's gloriously vague, but I think it probably does boil down to 'rendering a stereo image on an optically transmissive screen, informed by a depth map from the cameras'.
 

JaggedSac

Member
I wasn't watching the presentation, so only have read what was in the Wired hands-on article, but is there any more information on the underlying tech?

What makes it 'holo' as opposed to 'AR'?

Anyway, I guess this is what the Kinect endeavour is rolling into. It, and Google Glass, are basically what I was predicting about ten years ago, but at various different stages of maturity. However more recent developments (i.e. Kinect!) have left me a bit more skeptical about how long the road is to non-shakey computer vision applications.

Also, is this a standalone device? Any spec info if so?

Yes, they said it was stand alone. 3 processors in it.
 
Why do people say it's "just" AR? Is what they're showing old tech? Has anyone else been successful doing anything like this on this scale? Why so much emphasis on what they call their thing?

This implementation (with kinect input, microsoft software) is new. The tech making images appear to be projected on our reality isn't.

It's not projecting anything. Only the user wearing the lens can see anything.

I know. I said that myself =)
 
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