The Microsoft Hololens: A Revolutionary Future?

As I sat down to review the Microsoft Hololens, I couldn't help but feel a sense of excitement and trepidation. What would this device truly offer? Would it be a game-changer for virtual reality, or would it simply be another iteration on an already established concept? As I began to unbox the Hololens, I was struck by its sleek and sturdy design, coming in a cool carrying case that seemed almost too good to be true. But as I opened it up and revealed the device inside, my expectations were far exceeded.

The real magic happens when you look at the inner workings of the Hololens, and I must say, it's nothing short of impressive. Compared to early VR headsets like Oculus, this device feels like a product that could be bought today – polished, refined, and designed with the user in mind. But what really sets the Hololens apart is its full untethered nature, allowing you to move around freely without being attached to a PC or needing to set up a bunch of sensors around your room.

Under the hood, there's some serious power packed into this device, but Microsoft is still being tight-lipped about exactly what makes it all work. Suffice it to say that custom silicon plays a significant role in making it all happen, and the result is a seamless user experience. I was impressed by how comfortable the Hololens felt on my face, even after wearing it for extended periods of time – no heat, no discomfort, just pure functionality.

But what truly makes the Hololens special is its holographic display. Unlike traditional screens, this device is fully transparent until something needs to be seen, making interactions with the real world a breeze. And the sharpness! Oh, the sharpness is simply stunning. I found myself blown away by the tracking capabilities of this device – it's almost perfect, allowing me to move around freely without any noticeable lag or issue.

As I explored the potential of the Hololens, I couldn't help but imagine all the possibilities that lie ahead. A desk setup where you have different browser windows and research projects on your desk, on the wall in front of you – it's a game-changer. The idea is to augment your vision, not replace it altogether, and I think this device delivers. You can still see everything around you and talk with people, but there might just be aliens flying around the room or a browser tab on the wall behind them.

However, as impressive as the Hololens is, there are some limitations to be aware of. The biggest learning curve for me was mastering control – the device relies on a couple of gestures like clicking with one finger and opening my hand to pull up a menu. It's not too difficult to learn, but it does take some practice. Additionally, the field of view is fairly small, which can sometimes lead to an unobstructed view of what you're looking at.

Despite these minor quibbles, I was thoroughly impressed by the Hololens. The screen itself doesn't work on traditional resolutions; instead, it's measured in rays of light, offering a level of detail that even VR headsets can't match – including small text from across the room. But the biggest issue, as with many other technologies, is getting developers to create software for this device.

As one of the first developer kits available, I can only imagine that the learning curve will be steep for some users. However, given that it's running a version of Windows 10, it's not too far-fetched to port existing software over and adapt it to the Hololens' unique capabilities. And as someone who had the privilege of trying out this device firsthand, I can confidently say that this is the future we've been waiting for – so what do you guys think about the Hololens?

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enUh, sorry. You’re dead. I just think ofhow ridiculous I must look right now. Heyguys this is Austin. Is the Microsoft Hololensthe future? While there’s been a lot oftalk about virtual reality headsets the Hololensis something a little different. You’reable to walk around and fully interact withthe world with straight Minority Report stufflike floating web pages and holograms. Fora developer kit it actually comes with a prettysolid unboxing experience, open it up andyou’ll see the Hololens comes in a coolcarrying case. Inside though is where thereal magic is. What really jumps out at meis just how polished the Hololens alreadyfeels. Compared to early VR headsets likeOculus this looks like a product you couldbuy today which I guess shouldn’t be a hugesurprise coming from a company like Microsoft.The crazy thing is that this is fully untethered,there’s no need to be attached to a PC tohandle stuff like rendering or needing toset up a bunch of sensors around your room.There’s some serious power inside too butMicrosoft is still being very vague aboutwhat actually makes it all work, there’ssome custom silicon inside but it seems likea lot of the heavy lifting is being handledby the sensors. It doesn’t get warm or evenuncomfortable after wearing it for a whileand the battery will last around three hourswhich is impressive for what’s essentiallya full holographic computer that lives onyour face. Put the Hololens on, run a quickscan of the room and you’re ready to go.The thing that makes the Hololens specialis the holographic display. This isn’t likea traditional screen as it’s fully transparentuntil there’s something to actually see.Not only does this make interacting with thereal world dead simple since your vision isn’tobscured but it also means the holograms canbe incredibly sharp. What really blew me awayis the tracking, it’s almost perfect. Walkaround a room, move around as much as youwant, it doesn’t matter. If you put a browserwindow against a wall it’s not going anywherewhich can actually lead to funny problemslike forgetting where you put something inreal space. It’s easy to imagine a desksetup where you’re using the Hololens andyou have different browser windows and researchprojects on your desk, on the wall in frontof you, this is really cool stuff. A lot ofwhat makes this special comes down to thisbeing something that adds to your vision,not replacing it all together. You can stillsee everything around you and talk with peoplebut there might just be aliens flying aroundthe room or a browser tab on the wall behindthem. The biggest learning curve is control,the Hololens relies on a couple gestures likeclicking with one finger and opening yourhand to pull up a menu. These work but itcan get a little tiring to constantly haveyour hand held out in front of you to selectthings. What’s interesting is that the screendoesn’t work off a traditional resolutionsince it’s measured in rays of light butthere’s clearly more detail on the Hololensthan any VR headset I’ve ever tried, evensmall text from across the room is readablewhich is something not even the recordingcan fully get across. The biggest issue isthe field of view, it’s fairly small. SoI’m recording with this super awesome iPhonemount. So this is actually pretty close towhat you would see through the Hololens, soyou can see it looks nice and the tracking’sgood however for example if I look at somethinglike this the field of view is not enormous.You can see that it’s still a little bittransparent, right so you can see behind thatwindow and everything. The field of view,it’s decent enough especially with thingsthat are kind of transparent like that, likethis looks fine, this looks fine, it’s onlywhen you get to bigger, more complex thingsthat you really realize that it’s a littlebit lacking. There’s also some color shiftingyou can notice in the screen especially inpure white areas but again it’s really notthat bad, it’s clear that Microsoft focusedon the hard stuff like making the trackingwork and fitting all of this hardware insidea fully portable headset. The Hololens reallyis something you have to try to fully appreciate.With the hardware already being so polishedthe biggest thing holding it back seems tobe getting developers to actually create softwarefor it but since it’s running a versionof Windows 10 it’s not too crazy to portstuff over and since this is one of the veryfirst developer kits it’s just going totake time. I’ve got to give a huge shoutoutto my friends Adam and Glenn from Master ofShapes for letting me borrow their Hololensand shoot a video, they’re awesome and sois the Hololens. This is absolutely the future.So what do you guys think about the Hololens?Let me know in the comments below and I willcatch you in the next one.\n"