HP Windows Mixed Reality Headset

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Microsoft’s next-generation HoloLens glasses may make you look like Clark Kent

Today, Microsoft’s HoloLens augmented-reality headset has a geeky RoboCop vibe, but someday it could become more like a pair of eyeglasses suitable for Superman’s mild-mannered alter ego.

At least that’s the impression you’re likely to get from a Microsoft Research study on HoloLens technology, due to be presented in July at SIGGRAPH 2017 in Los Angeles.

The study delves into the possibilities of creating a display system that looks more like sunglasses than the bulky, goggle-like systems that are currently favored for virtual reality and mixed reality. The system could also build in a vision-correcting algorithm.

“If we ultimately wish to make a display the size of eyeglasses, we must build the functionality of eyeglasses into the display,” the research team writes in a blog item about the technology.

The key to the system is a type of near-eye holographic display that processes visual information from a real-world environment, adds layers of computer-generated information as desired, and then sends the resulting image into the eye.

The processing software would have to be powerful enough to adjust the signal, pixel by pixel, to accommodate the optics of the near-eye display as well as the optical corrections needed by the wearer.

“This is akin to using an independently customized, complex lens to form each point in the image,” the researchers say. To reduce the processing overhead, the glasses could track eye movements and sharpen the pixels specifically in the area where the wearer is looking.

The Microsoft team – which includes Andrew Maimone, Andreas Georgiou and Joel Kollin – built what they acknowledge is a “crude prototype” to test their approach to digital holography.

“Combined with GPU-accelerated algorithms, we demonstrate real-time hologram generation at rates of 90-260 Hz on a desktop GPU,” they report. Those rates compare favorably with what the human eye can distinguish.

Microsoft emphasizes that the project relates to basic research into holographic displays, and is “not necessarily indicative of any Microsoft product roadmap.” But if the company ever starts including X-ray vision as a HoloLens feature, you’ll know the reason why.


Hat tip to Popular Mechanics.

A/R in the air

HoloLens Demo Lets Airline Staff View Passenger Emotional State & Flight Details

The list of HoloLens applications continues to grow as more companies discover ways to enhance their operations using augmented reality. Air New Zealand is the latest to show interest in the technology, demonstrating their vision for AR in a new concept video.


In the video, Air New Zealand shows how they think the HoloLens will enhance the next generation of travel. By using graphical overlays, flight attendants would be able to "scan" each passenger and obtain information useful for bettering customer service. For example, the flight attendant in the video can see that the passenger he speaks to is feeling anxious. The flight attendant can then adjust his service approach to help calm the passenger. When the passenger feels calm, the HoloLens lets the attendant know so that he can move on to other customers with confidence. Continue Reading

Going International

Microsoft’s HoloLens will come to China later this month

HoloLens, Microsoft’s advanced “mixed reality” headset, will launch in China later this month, making it the tenth market for the device.

While some pundits expected that Microsoft would launch a new version of the HoloLens at its Build developer conference this week, it doesn’t look like that’s happening. The current version of the HoloLens started shipping to developers last March and it first demoed it long before that. The current version still suffers from a limited field of view, though in my experience, that actually becomes less of an issue the longer you use it.

Instead of announcing a new version, though, the company put the focus on the more VR-like “mixed reality” headsets from partners like Acer. It also showed off a reference design for its mixed-reality controllers.


For Microsoft, building this ecosystem of mixed-reality applications and devices is currently a major priority. Microsoft’s Alex Kipman noted in his Build keynote today that the company wants Windows 10 to be the best operating system for mixed reality, and it’s investing heavily in supporting VR, AR and mixed reality in its flagship operating system.

Controllers for Microsoft VR/MR

Microsoft unveils Windows Mixed Reality Controllers

They’ll be bundled with Acer’s headset for $399 this holiday season.

What good is a modern VR headset without decent motion controllers? Well, not much. So it's no surprise that Microsoft has announced its first Windows Mixed Reality Controllers, which will support the MR/VR headsets from the likes of Acer and other PC makers. Like HoloLens and various Windows-powered headsets, the controllers will rely on inside-out tracking technology, so you won't need to set up any special sensors to use them.
And speaking of Windows MR/VR headsets, Microsoft announced that developers can pre-order Acer's and HP's models starting today, with delivery later this summer. Acer's will still go for $300 while HP's is priced at $329.

Competition for Magic Leap

Avegant's light-field tech gives hope to a mixed-reality future

The startup is Avegant, a company you might already know. A few years ago, it created the Glyph, a personal entertainment center that looks (and acts) like a pair of headphones. At the same time as it was making Glyph, however, the swirl and excitement around VR and AR was in the air, and it was hard to ignore. "Everything was moving forward to more wearable computing devices," said Edward Tang, Avegant's CTO. "So we looked into it."

The team soon found that there was a fundamental problem with much of the transparent, mixed-reality displays out there -- and it's that all of them have a fixed focal point. You could pin virtual things to a wall and manipulate them remotely with controllers, but you couldn't get up close. "The real experience I want to have is, I want to be able to just walk up to something and hold it or touch it, and have something feel like it was right in front of me," Tang said. "At the end of the day, if you want to display something within about a meter, the focus needs to be correct."

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Going Full Circle

Microsoft is building an augmented reality viewer directly into Windows 10

Going back to where it all started and re-inventing the wheel. Yes, the webcam is making a comeback.

Microsoft is planning to bring a View Mixed Reality feature to Windows 10 later this year. It's designed to let Windows 10 users augment 3D objects, created in 3D Paint, into the real world by using any laptop with a webcam. During a demonstration at Microsoft's New York City event this morning, the company showed off how objects can be displayed on a tablet using augmented reality.

We've seen this type of technology in many different forms, but this will be built directly into Windows 10. The content created in 3D Paint can also be used on Microsoft's Windows Mixed Reality devices, which are arriving later this year in time for the holiday season.