Closest Thing To Magic- HoloLens!
With the technological world leaving reality in the dust with its pace, we are not blown away by anything anymore. Microsoft, as always, has taken it upon itself to wow the public once again. After the revolutionary launch of Microsoft’s mixed reality kit called the “HoloLens” back in 2015 at their Windows 10 launch event, there has been silence on that front by the company. Before its launch, HoloLens was speculated to be almost the same thing in functionality and specifications as Oculus Rift or Google Glass, but as soon as HoloLens made its appearance, it was crystal clear that it was way ahead of its time. For starters, unlike the Oculus Rift and Google Glass, HoloLens is completely wireless. Not only that, it doesn’t depend on any device to function.
It is of course, foolish to describe the specifications for the HoloLens in detail because the public has been familiar with the Virtual and Augmented reality features and uses of the Oculus Rift and Google Glass for quite some time now. HoloLens is, most comprehensively put, the BOSS MAN!
If it wasn’t already clear from the above statement, for us, HoloLens is the current winner of the AR/VR or Mixed Reality (as it is referred to). Not biased because of the wireless magic, it has so many other incredible features to offer.
Although, it comes at a whooping price of $5,000, HoloLens is worth every penny. It supports over 150 applications available to be downloaded from the Microsoft HoloLens website. The standalone headset that somewhat resembles the Robocop helmet, has a battery life of almost 2-3 hours.
Equipped with holographic high-definition lenses that use a projection system to create multi-dimensional full-color images with low latency, there are also a host of advanced sensors, like ambient light and four environment sensing cameras that can work together to figure out what you’re doing and what environment you’re in. All of this information is then processed by the custom HPU (holographic processing unit), mapping everything out in real time.
HoloLens has 2GB of RAM and 64GB of locally available capacity. With respect to network, it supports both Bluetooth and Wi-Fi as expected. Additionally a 2-megapixel HD camera with audio capture along with four microphones and speakers just above the ears that use spatial audio that enables you to hear your holograms from anywhere in the room. Not to forget the HoloLens’ depth camera. The depth camera does basically everything for the HoloLens that your eye does for you.
Moving on to the inner beauty of the HoloLens, it offers a Bluetooth clicker, air gestures and voice control. As for voice control, our favorite Cortana is also at your service with all of her capabilities. One interesting tid-bit is a function called “pinning” Pinning allows you to pin holograms to a point and inspect them by spinning them around their axis!
Speaking of the future of HoloLens, Microsoft has skipped launching a 2nd generation of the HoloLens and is focusing on directly launching the 3rd generation somewhere in 2019!