NEWS: Microsoft announces HoloLens 2

Even with twice the previous FOV I don't think it's going to be good enough tbh. It's still way too early for AR to be successful, the technology isn't there yet. You're going to need four times the previous FOV for it to be any good.
 
This isn't aimed at regular retail as for as I can tell.
 
Well Microsoft already landed a 480 million dollar contract with the military, I would say that constitutes being successful:
Microsoft secures $480 million HoloLens contract from US Army

That's more than HTC, Oculus, Google, Samsung, and Pimax have profited with VR combined. Unless they botch the deal, this would mean that AR has yielded more revenue than VR.
 
Well Microsoft already landed a 480 million dollar contract with the military, I would say that constitutes being successful:
Microsoft secures $480 million HoloLens contract from US Army

That's more than HTC, Oculus, Google, Samsung, and Pimax have profited with VR combined. Unless they botch the deal, this would mean that AR has yielded more revenue than VR.

Wow this tech could be a big saving to industries in the long run. No more PCs and laptops for troops to lug about. Air traffic controllers maybe? The possibility's are endless.

Nice overview from Mr F4CEpa1m
 
Well Microsoft already landed a 480 million dollar contract with the military, I would say that constitutes being successful:
Microsoft secures $480 million HoloLens contract from US Army

That's more than HTC, Oculus, Google, Samsung, and Pimax have profited with VR combined. Unless they botch the deal, this would mean that AR has yielded more revenue than VR.

That's going to be great until the US Army realises that Microsoft have mislead everyone about the FOV AGAIN lol
 
FOV doesn't matter so much when it comes to AR. We have AR now with our smart phones and the FOV is incredibly small.

The fundamental building blocks that make Enterprise AR application successful has very little to do with FOV.

Also, there are videos where the military already tried Version 1 of Hololens and they were already impressed despite its current FOV. The military isn't using this for playing video games; and they aren't worried about that whole, "omg my immersion is broken" stuff lol
 
Here's a good video of Hololens in use in military simulation:



When it comes to the military contract, there is no misleading of FOV since they are trying this out first-hand and approved the contract going forward based on realistic capabilities.

That's going to be great until the US Army realises that Microsoft have mislead everyone about the FOV AGAIN lol

Haven't you stated that you are interested in purchasing a Pimax VR HMD? Yet they mislead everyone on the resolution, right? They combine "per eye" resolution to claim 5K and 8K, when it's not really 5K nor 8K. Yet that misleading hasn't stopped you and others from finding the product alluring. Similarly, Microsoft may have missed the mark with their Gen 1 Hololens, but they did let the Military try the final product before landing the Second Gen contract.
 
TBH, regardless of the limited FOV I'm not sure what I'd really need AR for in a home environment. Gaming perhaps? I haven't seen a single person actually choosing to play an AR game on their phone (I personally just download them to see what they look like, and then never touch them again).

Unless it can be condensed into a form factor resembling a pair of regular glasses (which really would be a massive technical achievement, if somewhat impossible due to physics), I can't see consumers walking around with this on in day-to-day activities. I suspect it will remain in the realms of enterprise, medical, and industrial use only, at least in the short to medium term.
 
TBH, regardless of the limited FOV I'm not sure what I'd really need AR for in a home environment. Gaming perhaps? I haven't seen a single person actually choosing to play an AR game on their phone (I personally just download them to see what they look like, and then never touch them again).

Unless it can be condensed into a form factor resembling a pair of regular glasses (which really would be a massive technical achievement, if somewhat impossible due to physics), I can't see consumers walking around with this on in day-to-day activities. I suspect it will remain in the realms of enterprise, medical, and industrial use only, at least in the short to medium term.

Well there's more to achieve in Technology than just Gaming. There's plenty to target in the world of Enterprise and Industry.

In regards to gaming, well currently the lesser platform of Mobile Gaming is more successful than both PC and Console Gaming combined:
Why Mobile Gaming Is Now Bigger than Console and PC Gaming Combined, and Still Growing and Always Changing - Mobvista

From a global consumer standpoint, the hardcore gaming enthusiast market is dwindling. AR as a gaming platform has more potential in that market than Virtual Reality.

But as for regular day-to-day consumer use, I think the old "hyper reality" video gives some clear insight:

 
As I said, it's not consumer-friendly tech. No one is going to walk around the street with that hideous contraption on their faces. Maybe if it was integrated into a bicycle or motorcycle helmet perhaps (like some of the HUD prototypes).

Otherwise this just has industry applications IMO.
 
As I said, it's not consumer-friendly tech. No one is going to walk around the street with that hideous contraption on their faces. Maybe if it was integrated into a bicycle or motorcycle helmet perhaps (like some of the HUD prototypes).

Otherwise this just has industry applications IMO.
The video depicts consumers, and today we have people walking around using their phones for AR in games like Pokemon and Walking Dead:
Download the New The Walking Dead Encounter Augmented Reality App to See Walkers IRL

People are already in public wearing hideous contraptions on their head. I attended PAX South and there were literally thousands of people wearing the Vive, Rift, and WMR headsets in front of huge crowds. People wear portable HMD's like the Oculus GO on airplanes in front of other passengers.

The fact that they are "hideous" is a matter of perception and also irrelevant. Once the software is available to drive the need and demand, people will gladly wear it. Clearly, it's not about fashion but luxury and entertainment.

Besides, consumers can wear these in the privacy of their homes for Entertainment purposes anyway.
 
Sigh. Trade shows are not a day-to-day use case for a consumer. I wear a VR headset in the comfort of my living room. I would not walk around in public with it on as that AR video demonstrates.

People complained bitterly about wearing simple 3D glasses - do you honestly think wearing a bulky AR HMD in public is going to fly? Geeez...
 
Trade shows are not the only example I gave. But it is important to note that tradeshows are actually "showing consumers" what they can use on a regular basis.

Regardless, just because one person won't wear an HMD doesn't mean that the entire consumer market would avoid it as well. If that were the case, then all current VR HMD's would have flopped. Clearly they didn't. Back in 2016 people said the same thing about the Rift and Vive, "who wants to wear that on their head?" Now the market is flooded with HMDs.

The military plans to wear these in public, but even if we set aside "wearing in public" as a point of contention, consumers can still wear these in private for entertainment purposes. And because consumers can very much wears these in private, that certainly disproves any notions that Hololens isn't for consumer use. It may not be for all consumers, but who cares, neither are VR HMD's but they are still advancing nonetheless.

As for 3D glasses, people have been wearing them just fine for decades in movie theatres and large theme parks like Disney World. Bringing up 3D glasses is a moot point, and irrelevant in an AR/VR discussion.
 
Wow! Given we are pressumably all VR fans I would have expected a bit more love for AR. Sure maybe not every day consumer ready and maybe not for gaming yet but come on people where is your inner geek/nerd?
The tech has to start somewhere and I am sure the price will drop. In the future I can imagine AR and VR will be the same device but until then this is cool.

Imagine your car breaks down, you know NOTHING about cars but you put on your AR glasses get through to an AA helper who talks you exactly through what to do and what to check using AR to show you the way.
Or replace car with electrics, or plumbing or hell even setting up a new TV.
I actually think it could be cool for gaming as well as moving watching. A different but still cool experience.
Bring it on I say.
 
I have to admit that I am a bit perplexed as to how someone who purchased the Pimax 8K - which is wider and bulkier than most (if not all) HMD's on the market - would claim that HoloLens isn't something that can be worn. I mean... HoloLens is the LEAST intrusive HMD anyone can wear.


HoloLens 2:

microsoft-hololens-2-introduction-video_8k5t.640.jpg




Pimax 8K:

pimax-8k-6.jpg



In my honest opinion, the Pimax 8K is far more "hideous" than HoloLens in terms of aesthetics. While HoloLens provides exponentially more every-day-use benefits.
 
The problem I have with AR is that I love VR because it allows me to get away from the real world. With AR the real world is still there.

As someone with severe anxiety and depression I can't see myself getting into AR because therapeutically VR is so much better for me because it allows me to escape the real world completely.
 
The problem I have with AR is that I love VR because it allows me to get away from the real world. With AR the real world is still there.

As someone with severe anxiety and depression I can't see myself getting into AR because therapeutically VR is so much better for me because it allows me to escape the real world completely.

Fair enough, but that is a very unique situation and really doesn't apply to the main goal of VR as a platform. This new age of VR is not being created specifically to aid people with depression and anxiety. There is software out there to help with this, and I'm sure we'll see more in the future. But that is one of many byproducts of the VR ecosystem: Gaming, Cinema, Mental and Physical Health, Military, Real Estate, Enterprise.

I also feel that when anyone goes online to share an opinion, they should try to look at things as a whole; as objectively as possible. As opposed to projecting our own personal preferences on to the entire ecosystem. Case in point, just because you don't see AR as a way to help you personally doesn't mean that AR and the HoloLens won't thrive as a global Consumer, Enterprise, and Military product.
 
The problem I have with AR is that I love VR because it allows me to get away from the real world. With AR the real world is still there.

As someone with severe anxiety and depression I can't see myself getting into AR because therapeutically VR is so much better for me because it allows me to escape the real world completely.
That sucks and I do sympathise but whilst it may not be a good fit for you AR offers certain advantages that VR (in its current implementation) doesn't. (I was dissapointed that Google glass failed for instance, I thought that offered a pretty cool set of features).
 
I also think that AR is generally less suited for gaming for similar reasons tbh. We generally play games, even flat games back in the day (lol), to transfer ourselves to other places.

I mean, you could have great uses of AR for horror games, we've seen that recently in a video that was doing the rounds of a Ring-esque experience that looked pretty cool but the vast majority of games are better suited to taking place in space, on battlegrounds, in cockpits etc.

You'll have the danger of most games being the same, even more than traditional games.
 
I also think that AR is generally less suited for gaming for similar reasons tbh.

But the market disagrees, since right now AR has a much wider reach than VR. People are playing AR games on their phones around the world today, with games like Pokemon and Walking Dead.

Here's a list of 25 AR games for the mobile platform:
25 Best Augmented Reality Games for Android and iOS - 2019

So again, just because you personally don't enjoy AR games doesn't mean that on a global scale they are less suited for gaming. As I already pointed out, mobile gaming is doing better globally than both PC Gaming and Console Gaming combined. So the market is showing the complete opposite of what you are trying to say here.
 

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