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MS HoloLens

This comes to my mind.

project-natal-skateboard.jpg

See, a lot of people are asking why we are not exited for the holo thing, it because Microsoft tends to lie a lot.
 

Ratros

Member
How dey do dat?! Lasers? I thought they needed some solid or liquid medium to reflect the light?

Anyway, bit disappointed that MS chose the 'holo' name; that's setting the bar pretty high if it ends up being images bounced off the translucent screen, or even is it's direct retinal projection. Holography it ain't.

Exactly. For the first few minutes of the HoloLens section in the conference, the announcer's wording sounds like Microsoft has successfully made a working hologram.
 

Jackpot

Banned
crosspost

I would be interested in this if it can replicate the view of a standard monitor, so to speak, so where your monitor used to be is a hologram of the game but with the same dimensions & POV of a good monitor and added 3D depth and no enclosed frame around the screen.

sort of replicating the below

heliodisplay-hologram.jpg
 
It's just AR with a different name.

Pretty much. And not really anything new either. This stuff has been "any day now..." for a good 20+ years.

Hell, I remember working with some computer engineering engineering and com sci buddies on something similar back in 1998. Granted it took a room full of server equipment and things like projecting onto semi-transparent screens, but the concept is effectively identical.

The now and near future of AR are things like Google's Translate app doing real-time translation of text or Yelp's street view overlay. We're still a long way from Ghost in the Shell.
 
The wired article made it sound as though the person using it was walking on a virtualMars landscape, what's the different between AR and VR in that instance?

In that very instance, there isn't one. The main difference between AR and VR is that the former doesn't completely isolate you from your real surroundings, it adds to them. What this HoloLens AR has going for it is relatively light build, it's untethered, has head and hand tracking that's inverse of what the Oculus Rift does today (your headset has cameras and sensors along with software that tracks you in realtime as opposed to having a separate camera that's looking at your headset) and it can potentialy switch from AR to full VR experiences on the fly, but that can also be done just as well with a VR headset with additional front cameras and some sensors.
 

gofreak

GAF's Bob Woodward
Exactly. For the first few minutes of the HoloLens section in the conference, I thought Microsoft has successfully made a working hologram.

They're probably leaning more on 'lenticular hologram' end of the spectrum WRT probably how some aspect of the screen tech works. Not the Star Wars or Holodeck kind, but the PR people won't mind conjuring an image of the other. They need something to try and separate its marketing from other AR products.
 

aaaaa0

Member
Watch the stage demo.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RCCXZ8ErVag

It looks like HoloLens is a head mounted stereo display, combined with a Kinect for getting depth info about what is in front of you and for tracking your hands, and probably a pile of sensors for gaze and head tracking.

Oh, and it's all wireless.

I can totally see a LOT of uses for this. You can say previous attempts at AR exist, but that sounds like comparing a horse drawn carriage with a Tesla Model S...
 
Am I crazy, or was there plenty of doubt about Kinect (either version) from the press when they were released/demo'd? Stuff didn't always work, concerns about actual applications, etc.
 

Majine

Banned
I'll see how it the final product is. This floaty video does nothing for me, just like the initial Project Natal did.
 

Raticus79

Seek victory, not fairness
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.”

Are there any technical diagrams out there showing the projection path? This is too hand-wavy for me.
 

Ratros

Member
You think all of them will lie? The press (especially The Verge) are unreaspnably critical toward MS.

Well, the Verge did give several Microsoft-related products unproportionate review scores, but honestly they do have their reason. Not a perfect one, of course, but still, it makes sense to a certain degree.
 
I get the feeling this is kinect all over again, if it even ever gets into consumer hands at all. Besides, even if it ever sees the light of day, I feel like VR is way more appealing than AR. With VR you can do whatever you want, with AR you are limited to interacting with your real life surroundings.
 
I get the feeling this is kinect all over again, if it even ever gets into consumer hands at all. Besides, even if it ever sees the light of day, I feel like VR is way more appealing than AR. With VR you can do whatever you want, with AR you are limited to interacting with your real life surroundings.

I think they both have their applications. And one of the demos of HoloLens involves a NASA reconstruction of a patch of MARS, wherein you walk around. Naturally, it's not a COMPLETE replacement of what's around you, but I can see plenty of applications, games or not.

It's also a self-contained device. You don't need to hook it up to anything. So you can go wander around outside and that opens up another world of possibilities.
 

Lemon King

Neo Member
Watch the stage demo.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RCCXZ8ErVag

It looks like HoloLens is a head mounted stereo display, combined with a Kinect for getting depth info about what is in front of you and for tracking your hands, and probably a pile of sensors for gaze and head tracking.

Oh, and it's all wireless.

I can totally see a LOT of uses for this. You can say previous attempts at AR exist, but that sounds like comparing a horse drawn carriage with a Tesla Model S...
If HoloLens works as I believe, this is very much a true first gen AR device much akin to the Rift.
I've been saying this in the other thread (also to certain individuals) and thats if defense begins R&D with this AR tech I can see some awesome practical uses outside of gaming/entertainment coming.
 

Raist

Banned
Watch the stage demo.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RCCXZ8ErVag

It looks like HoloLens is a head mounted stereo display, combined with a Kinect for getting depth info about what is in front of you and for tracking your hands, and probably a pile of sensors for gaze and head tracking.

Oh, and it's all wireless.

I can totally see a LOT of uses for this. You can say previous attempts at AR exist, but that sounds like comparing a horse drawn carriage with a Tesla Model S...

Bit weird how stuff doesn't actually match her movements at all several times.
 

Ratros

Member
Am I crazy, or was there plenty of doubt about Kinect (either version) from the press when they were released/demo'd? Stuff didn't always work, concerns about actual applications, etc.

There were. But the general response is pretty much positive. This time with HoloLens is no different, I guess. Editors and independent tech writers would praise the great potential of the device, then adding sub points at the end of the essay suggesting that we know little about its batterylife, portability, comfort level, etc..
 

vesvci

Banned
Watch the stage demo.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RCCXZ8ErVag

It looks like HoloLens is a head mounted stereo display, combined with a Kinect for getting depth info about what is in front of you and for tracking your hands, and probably a pile of sensors for gaze and head tracking.

Oh, and it's all wireless.

I can totally see a LOT of uses for this. You can say previous attempts at AR exist, but that sounds like comparing a horse drawn carriage with a Tesla Model S...

I like this, pretty impressive. Did they obtain this from DARPA?

I'd bet money that MS will probably botch the launch and execution of this project.
 
Sounds cool, but Holo Headsets will never see wide adoption, only Holo Glasses will.

This sounds like the coolest thing ever for board games, until you realize that you'd be having a social experience where people are sitting together wearing goofy-looking headsets.
 
Sounds cool, but Holo Headsets will never see wide adoption, only Holo Glasses will.

This sounds like the coolest thing ever for board games, until you realize that you'd be having a social experience where people are wearing goofy-looking headsets.

I'm 110% wearing a goofy headset in the comfort of my own house, or a friend's house.

I would never wear Google Glasses in public.

This is more for the workplace, not really a gaming tool.

Not necessarily. There are plenty of applications for it, depending on the genre of game.

An actual heads up display is an easy place to start, for any game, but particularly FPS, flight games, etc.
A game could also place the map on a table in front of you, so you can just glance down instead of pressing a button.
Instead of snapping the Party app, the Party app could "float" outside the borders of your television screen.

Hell, couldn't you put the entire interface of a game "outside" the TV, so you just have a clean image on-screen?
 

Ratros

Member
Sounds cool, but Holo Headsets will never see wide adoption, only Holo Glasses will.

This sounds like the coolest thing ever for board games, until you realize that you'd be having a social experience where people are wearing goofy-looking headsets.

This.

HoloLens is more like a gadget (probably a fairly expensive one). It is fun to wear it at home now and then, but integrating it into your daily life is a whole different story. Glasses, on the other hand, it's perfect for real life scenarios.
 

bonercop

Member
This sounds a bit like what that magic leap company was hyping about, except MS has an actual product to show with details. Seems way more user friendly than I expected, though. Kind of amazing, actually.
 

Juanfp

Member
To the ones comparing to kinect, this technology have a different approach. Kinect was a technology that was put into gaming and kinda design for them.
This holo lens approach is more bigger with a lot of capabilities.
Both are great tech but one was promoted in the wrong device.
 
Sounds promising but it won't be cheap.

Everything Microsoft has put out has been too expensive recently. Xbox One, Surface etc. All way more than they should be.
 

cyberheater

PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 Xbone PS4 PS4
Apparently this is what Microsoft demoed to the CEO of Take2

wattgj.png


http://www.theverge.com/2015/1/21/7867841/take-two-rockstar-hololens-gta-5

Sounds great. Here's a quote from that article.

"The demo that I had was at Microsoft's headquarters in a room given over to this [technology], and you had an immersive headset on, and there are characters that appear to be real, and you're interacting with the characters and they're not real, and it's pretty extraordinary," said Zelnick.
 

Hubble

Member
Wired's hands-on. Really good article as he had one on one time with the inventor

http://www.wired.com/2015/01/microsoft-hands-on/?mbid=social_twitter#slide-id-1710391

Another scenario lands me on a virtual Mars-scape. Kipman developed it in close collaboration with NASA rocket scientist Jeff Norris, who spent much of the first half of 2014 flying back and forth between Seattle and his Southern California home to help develop the scenario. With a quick upward gesture, I toggle from computer screens that monitor the Curiosity rover’s progress across the planet’s surface to the virtual experience of being on the planet. The ground is a parched, dusty sandstone, and so realistic that as I take a step, my legs begin to quiver.

After I put on the headset, an electrician pops up on a screen that floats directly in front of me. With a quick hand gesture I’m able to anchor the screen just to the left of the wires. The electrician is able to see exactly what I’m seeing. He draws a holographic circle around the voltage tester on the sideboard and instructs me to use it to check whether the wires are live. Once we establish that they aren’t, he walks me through the process of installing the switch, coaching me by sketching holographic arrows and diagrams on the wall in front of me. Five minutes later, I flip a switch, and the living room light turns on.

The idea seems pretty cool. Instead of VR, it attempts to bring VR to real life.
 

Alx

Member
I get the feeling this is kinect all over again, if it even ever gets into consumer hands at all. Besides, even if it ever sees the light of day, I feel like VR is way more appealing than AR. With VR you can do whatever you want, with AR you are limited to interacting with your real life surroundings.

As it happens, many people spend most of their time in real life. ;)
 

Ratros

Member
I'm 110% wearing a goofy headset in the comfort of my own house, or a friend's house.

I would never wear Google Glasses in public.



Not necessarily. There are plenty of applications for it, depending on the genre of game.

An actual heads up display is an easy place to start, for any game, but particularly FPS, flight games, etc.
A game could also place the map on a table in front of you, so you can just glance down instead of pressing a button.
Instead of snapping the Party app, the Party app could "float" outside the borders of your television screen.

Hell, couldn't you put the entire interface of a game "outside" the TV, so you just have a clean image on-screen?

I don't know... Wearing a goofy heavy black helmet-like gadget while gaming just for a floating extra window does not sound like a good deal for me.
 
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