With Microsoft eying the potential for its augmented reality (AR)
headset to be used for military applications, the Oculus Rift has
garnered a lot of attention in the press as Microsoft's HoloLens
appears to be shaping up to be a very interesting take on virtual
reality headsets.
The HoloLens was the surprise announcement at the Windows 10
launch earlier in the year with members of the press taken to the
firm’s Building 92 for a demonstration of the headset and some
hands-on time with it.
But just what does the HoloLens do, how much will it cost and when
will the general public be able to buy it?
The technology company detailed, on its
official enterprise blog, a vision of the future where military
staff, from aircraft mechanics to battlefield tacticians, will use
its HoloLens headset to enhance their view of real-world objects and
events.
“HoloLens embraces mixed reality to enable users to engage with
the physical world and interact with real people as they
simultaneously explore 3D digital content,” wrote Sergio Ortega
Cruz, Microsoft’s worldwide industry solution manager for public
safety, national security and defense. “For military users, the
benefits are enormous. By incorporating HoloLens into their everyday
operations, defence organisations can operate far more efficiently
while dramatically reducing costs.”
Examples Ortega Cruz gave included overlaying a 3D model – over
the top of a grounded aircraft – showing a mechanic precisely what
parts of the craft need to be taken part, replaced or recalibrated.
HoloLens may also be used to design and assemble military vehicles
and equipment. Ortega Cruz said Microsoft’s AR headset would allow
workers to save time, instruct one another with greater accuracy, and
improve assembly efficiency. Finally, Ortega Cruz suggested that
HoloLens could help leaders, in a command and control centre, to
better strategize and “keep their soldiers safer” during combat
operations.
The blog post in question, published on Monday, has since been
removed from the site for reasons Microsoft has not specified.
However, it is still visible via web cache.
Microsoft already provides some specific enterprise software and
technology to the defence and law enforcement bodies around the
world, such as its Aware suite. The company said it is committed to
supporting defence organisations with innovative applications for its
HoloLens technology.
Speaking at the San Francisco conference, HoloLens evangelist Alex
Kipman told the audience that developer kits of Microsoft's VR
headset will ship immediately, and offered a couple of use cases for
the enterprise too. One from NASA showed Buzz Aldrin taking people on
a tour of Mars, and another from Case Western University's Dr Pamela
Davis, showed how HoloLens can help teach students medicine by
providing three-dimensional displays.
She claimed students learned more from the three-dimensional
augmented reality of HoloLens than from dozens of hours of studying,
while the VR device allowed people from other countries to join in
the lesson (seen as the red figure in the demo picture above).
In an interview with PC
World, Dedeine said that the HoloLens goggles contain a
processor that heats up during use, to the extent where the headset
becocmes too hot to touch with bare skin and thus dangerous to wear
for long periods.
For safety reasons, however, it will shut down automatically once
it reaches a certain temperature.
"The most important thing is to really be economical... you
would never need to do this with a console or PC - it's all about
consumption of energy, battery savings," Dedeine said. "Even
more important, it's heat - to not make the whole thing get too hot,
as it would be uncomfortable to the user."
This issue is presumably due to the fact that, unlike rival
augmented reality devices such as Oculus Rift, the HoloLens has its
own processor and so does not require a PC to work.
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