Microsoft HoloLens augmented reality headset

[Crispy]

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2015-01-22-microsoft-hololens-impressions

This is more like it. Not just a floating heads-up display like google glass, but fully 3D, with hand and environment tracking to seamlessly incorporate computer graphics with the real world. Sounds amazing.

 

[editor]

It looks crazy. The future! But will they actually deliver 'within the timeframe of Windows 10'?

 

[editor]

Here's the official site:

http://www.microsoft.com/microsoft-hololens/en-us

 

[editor]

This mock up makes a lot of sense but I'm really not into the idea of having anything on my noggin:

 

[a_chap]

This mock up makes a lot of sense but I'm really not into the idea of having anything on my noggin:

Me neither.

Unless they could incorporate the headset into a Trilby, then I'd be interested.

 

[Kid_Eternity]

Looks interesting shame it's from a dinosaur like Microsoft...

 

[editor]

Bloody hell. This is quite exciting stuff



http://gizmodo.com/microsoft-hololens-round-2-why-cant-i-see-more-of-thi-1701500831

 

[editor]

 

[UnderOpenSky]

It looks very cool. But I remember the difference between the videos for Kinnect and that actual experience.

 

[editor]

It looks very cool. But I remember the difference between the videos for Kinnect and that actual experience.

It's got a long way to go, but I find it a fascinating technology.

 

[UnderOpenSky]

It's got a long way to go, but I find it a fascinating technology.

Sure, it's the future. However I belive the biggest thing holding this kind of tech back is the way we control it.

I said about Google Glass imagine controlling your smart phone with just voice recognition. I don't think I was far wrong. We need to be able to track eyeball movement for this shit to work well.

 

[Fez909]

It looks very cool. But I remember the difference between the videos for Kinnect and that actual experience.

This sort of thing is why I'll never get [too] excited about these demos anymore.

I saw a Microsoft voice control demo in Disneyworld in 1996 that blew me away. It took until Siri/Google Now before we caught up to what I already thought was possible back then based on what I saw.

The stuff on the Kinnect demos was not too far off this we're seeing on this thread, and it didn't materialise.

I expect this sort of tech (in a much better form factor) will be widespread in 10 years. Not by August

 

[alsoknownas]

They burned a lot of goodwill with the Kinect (Project Natal) previews. Remember Milo? The weird virtual kid who would... erm, take pieces of paper off you, or something? (seemed very impressive at the time! ). None of it materialised, and the much hyped Kinect was seriously underpowered. Objectively quite a decent piece of engineering, but just not the game changer they had touted (too laggy for starters).

Yay! Milo-

Poor kid's probably propping up a bar somewhere in cyberspace boring everybody with his 'real paper' trick .

 

[Crispy]

This is great tech, but remember that the "hologram" doesn't fill your field of view, but is visible through a rectangular viewport the size of a credit card held 5cm from your eye

 

[Sunray]

Who doesn't want this? I want this right now!!

http://www.theverge.com/2015/6/15/8773843/microsoft-xbox-e3-2015-games-list-announcements

 

[editor]

Who doesn't want this? I want this right now!!

http://www.theverge.com/2015/6/15/8773843/microsoft-xbox-e3-2015-games-list-announcements

It is mighty impressive.

 

[mwgdrwg]

It is mighty impressive.

It does look superb.

But, my enthusiasm is slightly tempered by memories of how impressive Kinect seemed, and how it actually turned out.

 

[Crispy]

I repeat - you see that stuff through a small rectangle like a credit card held 2 inches from your eye. Also, it's not completely opaque.

It does sound amazing though.

 

[Sunray]

That is the view from a headset mounted on a camera, so that is the view you would see. He makes a point of that.

 

[elbows]

That is the view from a headset mounted on a camera, so that is the view you would see. He makes a point of that.

Bollocks is it. The field of view limitations are quite clear, and its a big limitation that makes the presentation quite dishonest in some senses.

 

[elbows]

To be clear - having a camera looking through the headset is not the same as our eyes looking through it. Cameras offer the opportunity to use a field of view/zoom that hides the single biggest flaw in this technology and made the presentation look better than the real experience.

 

[Sunray]

Bollocks is it. The field of view limitations are quite clear, and its a big limitation that makes the presentation quite dishonest in some senses.

Do you own one?

 

[Crispy]

That is the view from a headset mounted on a camera, so that is the view you would see.

It's really not. Everyone who's used it comments on how restricted the fov is.

That is the view from a headset mounted on a camera, so that is the view you would see. He makes a point of that.

http://www.theverge.com/2015/6/18/8809323/microsoft-hololens-field-of-view-kudo-tsunoda

The FOV is restricted. The view through the camera is not representative.

 

[editor]

New promo:

 

[elbows]

Several moments during that video which give a fair representation of the limitations of the field of view as discussed above. Still some other moments that are misleading though.

 

[editor]

Several moments during that video which give a fair representation of the limitations of the field of view as discussed above. Still some other moments that are misleading though.

You're doubting the doctor's/professor's words?

 

[mwgdrwg]

New promo:

Reminded me of something...

 

[Fez909]

You're doubting the doctor's/professor's words?

When did the doctor mention the field of view limitation (or lack of)?

 

[editor]

When did the doctor mention the field of view limitation (or lack of)?

I'm trying to find out which bits are "misleading"

 

[elbows]

I'm trying to find out which bits are "misleading"

They often seek to evoke the spirit of holograms that really exist in real 3D space. I don't really blame them, thats what people would ideally want, but we don't have a way to do it well without enclosing the space in an ugly physical structure or an impractical substance. I applaud hololens for providing an alternative take on this stuff, but I still firmly believe they are setting expectations too high by using such imagery in their promos.

I give them credit for featuring multiple sequences in that video where the true experience, with its limited field of view, is actually on display. So, that video you linked to is not as dishonest as their presentation which fooled the likes of Sunray. Even so, they don't exactly dwell on those sequences, or move dramatically during them to show the issue at its most blatant.

As for whether I doubt the doctor/professors words, they are just spouting aspirational guff, nothing of real substance that I can test scientifically. I don't doubt the concept of the tech has potential, but I cannot yet judge how practical it actually is. Certainly nobody has yet demonstrated to me that learning using 3D models suddenly reaches a new level because of hololens, so no I'm not buying into bullshit that wants me to believe information was flat until hololens.