A Closer Look at Microsoft’s HoloLens

HoloLens is Microsoft's Augmented Reality peripheral for the Windows PC and Xbox One. We've heard a lot about it, seen some of the promotional material, but until recently there haven't been too many discussions about hands on experiences with the prototype. A presentation at Build 2015 has pulled back the curtain a little bit, read on for the details.

The HoloLens features a narrow field of view, projecting holograms within your focus, starting to fade in your peripheral vision. This means that where you're looking directly, you'll see objects, but you won't be able to see these same projections out of the corner of your eye.

There is a built in Kinect style camera, which is a huge leap ahead of the capabilities of the Xbox One accessory. This allows the device to pick up the environment, as well as your hands as you interact with objects. Since the objects you manipulate are only in the center of your vision, your hands will be in direct line of sight of the camera, which answers a lot of questions about how applications will allow you to manipulate models that could be littered all about the room.

This new camera will also allow you to record what you see, including the holograms, so that a new type of video will be possible to convey the entire augmented reality experience to others.

Close to each ear are two red speakers, which will produce sounds reflecting the current game or application, and will still allow ambient sounds through so you get a mix of both while wearing the device. You'll also be able to get feedback from Cortana, which is integrated as a digital assistant to which you can give speech commands.

With development kits already in the hands of designers, and E3 coming up fast, hopefully we will learn about the actual gaming applications intended for Microsoft's futuristic prototype. Look forward to June for more information!

Source: Neowin

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