Augmented Reality Feels Like the Future, But Headsets That Use It Haven't Fully Arrived

Microsoft's Hollow Lens 2 is pushing the field forward in a couple of key ways but it's intended for Enterprise use. I'm here at Microsoft's headquarters in Redmond where we're getting a chance to use this and walk through it for the first time. The headset's design has been reconfigured this time it's meant to slide over the head like a baseball cap, it's comfier and the center of balance isn't so front heavy and now the visor flips up like Microsoft's VR headsets.

Hollow Lens 2 Unlike the Magic Leap 1 and another AR headset that creates 3D Graphics that seem to blend with the real world works with glasses on. I could flip it down over my thick glasses no problem. The field of view is bigger so now I'm basically getting something like that which is a lot better than it was before and for most things on a desk, I'm able to see things without it being cut off.

The thing about AR headsets versus VR is there was a point where the field of view cuts off making Holograms suddenly seem like you're viewing them through a narrow window. Hollow Lens 2 expands its field of view to 52 degrees versus the first lens 30 degrees, it may not sound dramatic but it means instead of seeing things through a deck of card-shaped window it's more like a big paperback book.

There were a couple of demos that we saw here on Microsoft's campus one was of uh the interface here in in a living room environment, uh which they call the Shell demo. I'm going to go over here and there's a hologram floating on the desk that's showing uh a shoreline the power of wind if I bring bring my hand out like this I see the box if I grab with both hands and Pull It expands and then it goes back down and over here by the way are some other hologram things.

This one's an engine with a spinning part that's over here, this is a windmill but again picking them up and placing them down and being able to drag and position them so now it's just like sitting on the desk. There's also a demo using a new app called guides that is guiding you through how to do things and how to build things. Hollow Lens 2 also has ey tracking which can not only work through my glasses and seamlessly let me glance at objects and control them with my voice, but Microsoft says the in headset cameras could sense emotion too.

Ey tracking means being able to track your interests and attention and make interfaces more fluid, Enterprise interests include using it to steady engagement and focus but it also starts to feel like mind reading. There still aren't physical controls with Hollow Lens 2 but the sensor cameras can now detect more hand movements the gestures make it seem more like you're pushing buttons or pulling corners of objects minus the physical feedback.

Microsoft is designing Hollow Lens 2 to become more collaborative, using this with multiple people in a space using Microsoft's Azure cloud services and to connect to IOS and Android because hey you've already got phones that have AR. The idea is to build an ecosystem so that people can start viewing the same stuff together that type of collaborative AR started to emerge last year with Google and apple on phones but Microsoft's aiming to take it to a much more accurate direction that will be used for Enterprise for much more Mission critical uses.

Beyond Hollow Lens 2, ultimately the goal is these things transformed humans they've empowered people and organizations to do things they just plainly were not able to do before they will allow us to display space and time on on a daily basis as if we were born instinctually with those superpowers. Microsoft is targeting Hollow Lens 2 for Enterprise use so this isn't for home users and this is very clearly targeted for factories or field work or or ways that people could really use this in a helpful way, uh in work environments in areas where they can't uh use a computer or something else.

We will start seeing this in consumer devices we will see this in other types of experiences no doubt. But what's interesting here is how Microsoft is working uh to make hand gestures expand the field of view and get ways that AR can start feeling more comfortable over longer periods of time, it's something that future AR tech no matter where it is is going to need to take advantage of.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enaugmented reality feels like the future but headsets that use it that everyday people are wearing haven't fully arrived Microsoft's Hollow lens 2 is pushing the field forward in a couple of key ways but it's intended for Enterprise use I'm here at Microsoft's headquarters in Redmond where we're getting a chance to use this and walk through it for the first time the headset's design has been reconfigured this time it's meant to slide over the head like a baseball cap it's comfier and the center of balance Isn't So front heavy and now the visor flips up like Microsoft's VR headsets Hollow lens 2 unlike the magic leap 1 and another AR headset that creates 3D Graphics that seem to blend with the real world works with glasses on I could flip it down over my thick glasses no problem the field of view is is bigger so now I'm basically getting something like that which is a lot better than it was before and for most things on a desk I'm able to see things without it being cut off the thing about AR headsets versus VR is there was a point where the field of view cuts off making Holograms suddenly seem like you're viewing them through a narrow window the hollow lens 2 expands its field of view to 52° versus the first lens 30° it may not sound dramatic but it means instead of seeing things through a deck of card- shaped window it's more like a big paperback book there were a couple of demos that we saw here on Microsoft's campus one was of uh the interface here in in a living room environment uh which they call the Shell demo I'm going to go over here and there's a hologram floating on the desk that's showing uh a shoreline the power of wind if I bring bring my hand out like this I see the box if I grab with both hands and Pull It expands and then it goes back down and over here by the way are some other hologram things this one's a an engine with a spinning part that's over here this is a windmill but again picking them up and placing them down and being able to drag and position them so now it's just like sitting on the desk there's also a demo using a new app called guides that is guiding you through how to do things and how to build things I'll lens 2 also has ey tracking which can not only work through my glasses and seamlessly let me glance at objects and control them with my voice but Microsoft says the in headset cameras could sense emotion too ey tracking means being able to track your interests and attention and make interfaces more fluid Enterprise interests include using it to steady engagement and focus but it also starts to feel like mind reading there still aren't physical controls with the hollow lens 2 but the sensor cameras can now detect more hand movements the gestures make it seem more like you're pushing buttons or pulling corners of objects minus the physical feedback Microsoft is designing Hollow lens 2 to become more collaborative to use this with multiple people in a space using Microsoft's Azure cloud services and to connect to IOS and Android because hey you've already got phones that have AR and the idea is to build an ecosystem so that people can start viewing the same stuff together that type of collaborative AR started to emerge last year with Google and apple on phones but Microsoft's aiming to take it to a much more accurate direction that will be used for Enterprise for much more Mission critical uses but what about the future Beyond Hollow lens 2 ultimately the goal is these things transformed humans they've empowered people and organizations to do things they just plainly were not able to do before they will allow us to display space and time on on a daily basis as if we were born instinctually with those superpowers Microsoft is targeting Hall lens 2 for Enterprise use so this isn't for home users and this is very clearly targeted for factories or field work or or ways that people could really use this in a helpful way uh in work environments in areas where they can't uh use a computer or something else will we start seeing this in consumer devices will we see this in other types of of experiences no doubt but what's interesting here is how Microsoft is working uh to make hand gestures expand the field of view and get ways that AR can start feeling more comfortable over longer periods of time that's something that future AR Tech no matter where it is is going to need to take advantage ofaugmented reality feels like the future but headsets that use it that everyday people are wearing haven't fully arrived Microsoft's Hollow lens 2 is pushing the field forward in a couple of key ways but it's intended for Enterprise use I'm here at Microsoft's headquarters in Redmond where we're getting a chance to use this and walk through it for the first time the headset's design has been reconfigured this time it's meant to slide over the head like a baseball cap it's comfier and the center of balance Isn't So front heavy and now the visor flips up like Microsoft's VR headsets Hollow lens 2 unlike the magic leap 1 and another AR headset that creates 3D Graphics that seem to blend with the real world works with glasses on I could flip it down over my thick glasses no problem the field of view is is bigger so now I'm basically getting something like that which is a lot better than it was before and for most things on a desk I'm able to see things without it being cut off the thing about AR headsets versus VR is there was a point where the field of view cuts off making Holograms suddenly seem like you're viewing them through a narrow window the hollow lens 2 expands its field of view to 52° versus the first lens 30° it may not sound dramatic but it means instead of seeing things through a deck of card- shaped window it's more like a big paperback book there were a couple of demos that we saw here on Microsoft's campus one was of uh the interface here in in a living room environment uh which they call the Shell demo I'm going to go over here and there's a hologram floating on the desk that's showing uh a shoreline the power of wind if I bring bring my hand out like this I see the box if I grab with both hands and Pull It expands and then it goes back down and over here by the way are some other hologram things this one's a an engine with a spinning part that's over here this is a windmill but again picking them up and placing them down and being able to drag and position them so now it's just like sitting on the desk there's also a demo using a new app called guides that is guiding you through how to do things and how to build things I'll lens 2 also has ey tracking which can not only work through my glasses and seamlessly let me glance at objects and control them with my voice but Microsoft says the in headset cameras could sense emotion too ey tracking means being able to track your interests and attention and make interfaces more fluid Enterprise interests include using it to steady engagement and focus but it also starts to feel like mind reading there still aren't physical controls with the hollow lens 2 but the sensor cameras can now detect more hand movements the gestures make it seem more like you're pushing buttons or pulling corners of objects minus the physical feedback Microsoft is designing Hollow lens 2 to become more collaborative to use this with multiple people in a space using Microsoft's Azure cloud services and to connect to IOS and Android because hey you've already got phones that have AR and the idea is to build an ecosystem so that people can start viewing the same stuff together that type of collaborative AR started to emerge last year with Google and apple on phones but Microsoft's aiming to take it to a much more accurate direction that will be used for Enterprise for much more Mission critical uses but what about the future Beyond Hollow lens 2 ultimately the goal is these things transformed humans they've empowered people and organizations to do things they just plainly were not able to do before they will allow us to display space and time on on a daily basis as if we were born instinctually with those superpowers Microsoft is targeting Hall lens 2 for Enterprise use so this isn't for home users and this is very clearly targeted for factories or field work or or ways that people could really use this in a helpful way uh in work environments in areas where they can't uh use a computer or something else will we start seeing this in consumer devices will we see this in other types of of experiences no doubt but what's interesting here is how Microsoft is working uh to make hand gestures expand the field of view and get ways that AR can start feeling more comfortable over longer periods of time that's something that future AR Tech no matter where it is is going to need to take advantage of\n"